LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Class 


IMPRESSIONS  OF 
'     SPAIN 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL 


COMPILED  BY 
JOSEPH  B.  GILDER 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 
A.  A.  ADEE 


TH€ 

(  UNIVERSITY   j 

OF 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

(Cbe  ftitoerstb?  $«$* 

1899 


COPYRIGHT,  1899 

BV 
JOSEPH  B.  GILDER 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 


Ill 


iptef atot£  IBote 

IT  was  over  twenty-one  years  ago  that 
*  the  late  James  Russell  Lowell  arrived 
in  Madrid  as  American  Minister  at  the 
Spanish  Court ;  yet  no  clearer  insight  into 
the  state  of  affairs  in  Spain  at  the  present 
day  can  be  had,  than  is  to  be  obtained 
from  the  reading  of  his  official  despatches 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washington. 
By  knowledge  of  the  history  and  the  lan 
guage  of  the  country,  he  was  exceptionally 
equipped  for  the  mission  to  which  Presi 
dent  Hayes  appointed  him,  and  in  a  com 
paratively  short  time  he  had  acquainted 
himself  with  the  social  and  political  con 
ditions  then  prevalent,  so  that  his  com 
ments  on  men  and  measures  are  invaluable 
to  anyone  desirous  of  tracing  the  causes 


216049 


IV 


Ipref atorg  Iftote 


Iprefators 
mote 


of  conditions  prevalent  to-day.  To  read 
Washington  Irving's  despatches  of  fifty 
years  ago  and  Mr.  Lowell's  of  thirty  years 
later,  is  to  be  struck  by  the  similarity  of 
the  conditions  they  reveal,  and  also  by 
the  close  resemblance  between  the  con 
ditions  in  1845  and  1878  and  those  of 
the  present  year  of  grace. 

Mr.  Lowell's  first  despatch  from  Spain  is 
dated  Monday,  20  Aug.,  1877.  It  notes  his 
arrival  at  Madrid  on  the  preceding  Tuesday, 
and  that  Mr.  A.  A.  Adee,  "our  Chargt 
d' Affaires,  of  whose  zealous  kindness  I  can 
not  say  too  much,"  met  him  at  the  frontier, 
and  promptly  arranged  for  his  own  audi 
ence  of  leave-taking  and  Mr.  Lowell's 
audience  of  reception  on  Saturday,  Aug. 
1 8. '  "At  the  request  of  Senor  Silvela,  Min 
ister  of  State,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior 
very  courteously  placed  at  our  disposal  the 

1  Mr.  Adee,  the  beginning  of  whose  service  in  the 
State  Department  antedated  this  episode  by  several 
years,  has  been  since  1886  Second  Assistant  Secretary 
of  State. 


prefatory  1Rote 


private  travelling  carriage  of  Senor  Canovas 
del  Castillo,  who  is  at  present  absent  from 
Madrid." 

Arrived  at  La  Granja,  where  the  Court 
was  summering,  our  Minister  was  kept 
waiting  twenty  minutes  beyond  the  hour 
appointed  for  his  audience  with  the  King. 
The  Introducer  apologised,  and  Mr.  Lowell 
said  that  he  was  personally  satisfied,  but 
that  it  should  be  remembered  that  it  was 
not  he  "but  the  United  States  that  were 
kept  waiting."  It  transpired  that  the  King 
had  been  waiting  all  the  time  in  the  audience 
chamber,  and  it  was  then  the  Minister's 
turn  to  apologise,  which  he  accordingly 
did.  During  their  brief  stay  at  La  Granja, 
both  Mr.  Lowell  and  Mr.  Adee  were  treated 
by  the  King  and  his  suite  with  marked 
courtesy,  one  of  the  pleasantest  features  of 
their  sojourn  being  a  dinner  en  famille 
with  the  royal  family. 

Mr.  Lowell's  official  correspondence  teems 
with  references  to  and  illustrations  of  Spain's 


VI 


jprefatorg  Iftote 


Iprcfator? 
mote 


good-will  toward  the  United  States.  One 
evidence  of  this  was  her  enthusiastic  recep 
tion  of  Gen.  Grant ;  another,  her  refusal  to 
impose  retaliatory  duties  when  a  special 
tonnage  tax  had  been  imposed  by  us  on 
Spanish  vessels  entering  our  ports  ;  others 
still  were  furnished  by  the  gift  of  testi 
monials  to  American  officers  who  had 
saved  Spanish  lives  or  property.  On  i 
Feb.,  1878,  Mr.  Lowell  wrote,  in  reference 
to  the  case  of  the  whaling  schooners  Ellen 
Ri^pah,  Rising  Sun,  and  Edward  Lee  : 
"The  Spanish  Government  has  acted  with 
extraordinary  promptness  in  the  matter,  if 
I  may  judge  by  the  experience  of  my  col 
leagues  here,  thus  giving  a  further  proof  of 
its  disposition  to  maintain  friendly  relations 
with  the  United  States."  Again,  on  14 
March,  1879,  he  acknowledged  the  receipt, 
in  behalf  of  the  Historical  Society  of  St. 
Louis,  of  a  photograph  of  King  Alfonso 
with  autograph  below,  "set  in  a  very  hand 
some  frame  of  iron  enamelled  with  gold 


prefatory  Bote 


Vll 


and  silver — a  species  of  work  peculiar  to 
Spain." 

Whereas  many  if  not  all  of  Washington 
Irving's  despatches  were  written  in  his 
own  handwriting  throughout,  all  but  three 
of  Mr.  Lowell's  are  in  the  handwriting  of 
the  secretary,  bearing  only  the  Minister's 
signature.  On  these  three  occasions  the 
necessity  of  being  his  own  secretary  was 
imposed  by  his  own  kindness  in  granting 
special  holidays  to  Mr.  Dwight  Reed,  for 
whose  health  and  happiness  he  shows  a 
generous  solicitude. 

The  letters  which  have  been  chosen  for 
reproduction  here  are  those  in  which  our 
Minister  describes  the  domestic  politics  of 
Spain ;  the  King's  first  marriage,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  to  his  cousin  Mercedes  ;  the 
attempt  upon  his  life  ;  his  bereavement ; 
and  his  marriage  to  the  Austrian  Arch 
duchess,  Maria  Cristina* 

J.  B.  G. 


Iprefatorg 
mote 


IX 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION         ....  3 

i.  THE  DOMESTIC  POLITICS  OF  SPAIN     .  23 

ii.  THE  KING'S  FIRST  MARRIAGE    .        -53 

HI.  THE  DEATH  OF  QPEEN  MERCEDES      .  75 

iv.  ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  THE 

KING 87 

v.  GENERAL  GRANT'S  VISIT  TO  SPAIN    .  95 

vi.  THE  KING'S  SECOND  MARRIAGE         .  101 

INDEX 105 


Contents 


INTRODUCTION 


A 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  SPAIN 

Untrofcuction 

PHILOSOPHER,  and  in  particular  a 
genial  one,  shrewd  to  observe,  and 


yet  indulgent  to,  the  foibles  of  his  fellows, 
whom  he  surveys  in  the  light  of  an  amused 
and  charitable  introspection  of  his  own  na 
ture,  is  apt  to  make  a  good  diplomatist. 
Of  this  type  was  Franklin,  the  precursor 
of  a  distinguished  line  of  American  repre 
sentatives  at  foreign  courts  taken  from  the 
walks  of  letter-craft.  High  in  the  ranks  of 
these  stood  Lowell. 

When,  therefore,  the  relations  of  our 
country  to  Spain  had  reached  a  stage  of 
comparative  repose;  when,  after  long  tur- 


•ffmpressions  of  Spain 


tion 


moil  and  change,  regular  in  its  very  incon 
stancy,  the  Celtiberian  nation  had  wiped 
out  old  scores  at  home,  pacified  its  unruly 
province  beyond  the  sea,  and  addressed 
itself  to  the  cultivation  of  civil  well-being 
and  progress,  it  was  entirely  fitting  that  our 
Government  should  turn  from  the  employ 
ment  of  soldier-diplomatists  like  Sickles, 
and  wily  masters  of  profoundest  jurisprud 
ence  like  Gushing,  as  its  envoys,  and  revert 
to  the  policy  which,  in  1842,  on  the  eve  of 
the  girl-queen  Isabel's  assumption  of  the 
reins  of  government  in  her  own  thirteen- 
year-old  right,  had  prompted  the  selection 
of  Washington  Irving  as  Minister  to  the 
Court  of  San  Fernando. 

Sickles  and  Gushing  had  borne  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  long  diplomatic  campaign 
that  opened  with  the  Cuban  revolution  of 
1868  and  closed  with  the  establishment  of 
the  judicial  rights  of  our  citizens  in  Spain 
and  its  insular  possessions,  by  the  signature 
of  the  Cushing-Calderon  protocol  in  Janu- 


James  TCussell  OLowell 


ary,  1877.  During  most  of  these  nine  years 
the  political  aspect  of  Spain  had  been  ka 
leidoscopic.  From  the  downfall  and  flight 
of  Isabel  II.,  September  30,  1868,  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Bourbon  dynasty  in  the 
person  of  her  son,  Alfonso  XII.,  the  land 
had  seen  its  governments  come  and  depart 
like  shadows,  its  fields  harried  by  the  wars 
of  the  Carlists  and  the  communists,  and 
Cuba,  the  boasted  Ever  Faithful  Island, 
wasted  by  the  ten  years'  rebellion  of  Yara. 
To  the  provisional  triumvirate  of  Prim, 
Serrano,  and  Topete,  which  took  hold  of 
power  on  Isabel's  dethronement,  succeeded 
the  regency  of  Serrano,  under  which  a  new 
monarchical  constitution  was  framed,  and 
the  unlucky  search  for  an  exotic  king 
begun. 

The  candidacy  of  Hohenzoliern  having 
served  for  naught  save  to  set  France  and 
Germany  at  war,  more  expedient  counsels 
prevailed  in  the  election  and  enthronement 
of  Amadeo  of  Savoy  at  the  beginning  of  1 870. 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


flntroimos 

tion 


Despite  his  sturdy  devotion  to  the  tenets  of 
constitutional  rule  and  his  undying  honesty 
of  purpose  in  all  that  becomes  the  man  of 
honour  and  the  stainless  monarch,  the  Italian 
prince's  alienship  was  a  fatal  bar  to  his  con 
quest  of  the  love  of  an  intensely  national 
race,  so  that  at  the  last,  disheartened  by 
the  hopelessness  of  the  task,  and  confronted 
by  the  need  of  an  arbitrary  dissolution  of  a 
hostile  parliament  and  a  resort  to  the  tradi 
tional  electoral  methods  of  Castile  to  prop 
up  a  tottering  power  by  the  facile  return  of 
a  subservient  C6rtes,  Amadeo  abdicated  on 
February  1 1,  1873.  The  Senate  and  Cham 
ber  of  Deputies,  by  an  act  of  sheer  usurpa 
tion,  dissolved  their  separate  constitutional 
existence,  and  declared  themselves  as  form 
ing  in  common  union  a  constituent  assembly 
to  frame  a  government  as  the  self-appointed 
delegates  of  the  people.  The  short-lived 
republic  was  the  outcome.  Its  first  presid 
ent,  that  grandly  incorruptible  statesman 
Estanislao  Figueras,  was  succeeded  in  mid- 


James  IRusseii  Stoweil 


June  by  Francisco  Pi  y  Margall,  a  man  of  untrotmce 
dreamy  theories  and  amiable  lack  of  grip ; 
on  July  1 8th  by  Nicolas  Salmeron,  the  most 
practical  of  the  fleeting  line;  and  on  Sept 
ember  7th  by  Emilio  Castelar,  the  orator, 
whose  rule  was  troublous  enough.  To  the 
remittent  agony  of  the  Carlist  rebellion, 
which  rose  anew  to  confront  the  young 
republic,  had  been  added  the  cantonal  risings 
of  July,  when  the  southern  and  eastern  pro 
vinces  and  even  isolated  towns  proclaimed 
independent  statehood  and  clamoured  for  a 
federation.  To  oppose  this  movement,  due 
as  much  to  Castelar's  former  teachings  as 
to  any  other  motive,  it  became  necessary 
to  revive  the  eras  of  militarism,  from  which 
Spain  had  already  too  long  suffered.  On 
September  2ist,  the  Assembly  suspended 
its  sittings  until  January,  conferring  the  su 
preme  dictatorship,  during  the  interval, 
upon  Castelar's  council  of  ministers.  On 
January  2d,  Castelar  resigned  his  office  to 
the  assembled  C6rtes  and  invited  a  vote 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


flntrotaca 

tion 


of  confidence,  which  was  overwhelmingly 
rejected.  The  next  night,  January  3,  1874, 
while  the  Assembly  was  deliberating  the 
choice  of  still  another  president,  the  repub 
lic  fell  by  the  coup  d  'Mat  of  General  Pavia, 
who  set  up  the  presidency-dictatorship  of 
Serrano  in  its  stead.  A  year  later,  the 
shards  and  scraps  of  the  political  kaleido 
scope  took  a  fresh  arrangement  through 
the  rude  jolt  given  by  Marshal  Martinez  de 
Campos,  who,  on  December  29,  1874,  set 
up  the  Bourbon  standard  at  Sagunto,  and, 
backed  by  the  whole  army,  placed  Alfonso 
XII.  on  the  throne,  with  Canovas  del  Cas 
tillo  as  regent  until  His  Majesty  should  re 
turn  from  his  school-days'  exile. 

Throughout  all  these  changes  the  people 
of  Spain  seem  to  have  been  the  first  to 
acquiesce,  as  they  were  the  last  to  be 
consulted  by  the  metropolitan  makers  of 
regents,  presidents,  and  kings.  Like  their 
Gallic  neighbours,  anything  was  welcome 
to  the  masses  that  might  not  bode  increased 


3ames  IRusseli  SLowell 


strife  and  taxation,  and  each  successive  ad- 
ministration  took  office  with  the  reassuring 
promise  of  reform  and  stability.  Hence, 
as  Mr.  Gushing  wrote  of  the  accession  of 
Alfonso,  "it  did  not  appear  at  all  extraor 
dinary  to  the  Spaniards,  on  waking  up,  to 
find  that  the  republic  had  vanished  and  the 
monarchy  returned  with  the  dramatic  celer 
ity  of  a  change  of  scenery  at  the  opera. 
.  .  .  The  people  are  beginning  to  con 
ceive  that  revolutionism,  as  a  principle  or 
theory  of  government,  is  the  climax  of 
nonsense  and  absurdity,  seeing  that  it  is  to 
convert  the  desperate  remedy  for  a  mortal 
disease  into  the  daily  food  of  its  life,  and 
thus,  under  pretence  of  curing  the  occa 
sional  ills  of  the  body  politic,  to  condemn 
it  to  inevitable  death  and  dissolution.  In  a 
word,  weary  of  empiricism,  demagogy,  and 
anarchy,  Spain  seeks  refuge  once  more  in  the 
hoped-for  repose  of  its  traditional  institu 
tions  of  religion  and  hereditary  monarchy." ' 
1  Mr.  Gushing  to  Mr.  Fish,  January  5,  1875. 


10 


flmpressions  of  Spain 


flntro&ucs 
tfon 


In  a  little  more  than  six  years  Spain  had 
endured  as  many  changes  in  the  form  of 
government,  having  tried  the  provisional 
committee,  the  regency,  the  elective  mon 
archy,  the  republic,  the  dictatorship,  and 
the  restored  hereditary  monarchy.  During 
the  ten  and  a  half  months  of  the  republic, 
five  presidents  had  been  installed,  not  to 
mention  the  sixteen  hours'  phantom,  Pedre- 
gal,  whose  insignificance  set  Madrid  agape, 
and  who  retired  before  the  street  clamour 
"  Quien  es  Pedregal  ?  "  without  even  form 
ing  a  cabinet.  Carlism  and  cantonalism 
had  wasted  the  land  and  burdened  its  peo 
ple  with  dread  and  debt.  The  Cuban  war 
still  dragged  on,  in  spite  of  endless  sacrifice 
of  life  and  treasure  and  the  concession  of 
emancipation  and  political  reforms.  As 
worse  could  hardly  be  expected  to  come, 
the  revived  monarchy  under  a  native  sov 
ereign  might  at  least  be  a  presage  of  better 
things,  such  as  a  union  of  the  contending 
internal  factions  of  the  realm,  and  an  era  of 


James  IRusseil  Xoweil 


tranquillity  and  dedication  to  normal  pur 
suits.  The  hope  proved  not  wholly  vain. 
The  next  few  years  saw  the  country  in 
peace  at  home,  while  across  the  seas  the 
fires  of  insurrection  in  Cuba  were  visibly 
waning  before  the  peculiarly  persuasive 
treatment  of  Martinez  de  Campos,  who 
finally,  in  1877,  brought  about  the  truce  of 
Zanjon. 

It  was  under  these  favourable  conditions 
that  Mr.  Lowell  went  to  Spain  in  August, 
1877,  there  to  remain  until  his  transfer  to 
the  London  mission  in  January,  1880.  No 
grave  international  responsibility  confronted 
him.  The  only  cloud  on  the  good  relations 
of  the  United  States  and  Spain,  the  Vir- 
ginius  quarrel,  had  been  dispelled  through 
the  settlement  effected  by  his  predecessor. 
In  the  Spanish  eye  he  came,  not  to  continue 
the  disputatious  and  aggressive  diplomacy 
of  Sickles  and  Gushing,  but  to  revive  the 
amiable  traditions  of  Washington  Irving' s 
day.  With  the  natural  confusion  of  sur- 


Untro&ucs 
tfon 


12 


•ffmpressions  of  Spain 


flntrobucs 
tion 


names  on  the  paternal  and  maternal  side, 
which  in  Castilian  usage  are  combined  in 
one  double  appellation,  the  leading  govern 
ment  organ  welcomed  "the  poet  Russell, 
equally  with  the  diplomatist  Lowell."  He 
was  even  familiarly  greeted  by  some  as 
"Jose  Bighlow,"  with  the  hopeful  anticipa 
tion  that  a  fresh  volume  of  dialectic  verse 
might  result  from  his  Spanish  experiences; 
while  others,  more  lately  informed,  trusted 
that  he  would,  from  his  Window,  survey 
with  kindly  philosophic  gaze  the  more  lov 
able  and  human  side  of  the  Spanish  char 
acter.  I  think  he  himself  planned  to  leave 
some  enduring  record  of  his  sojourn.  His 
maturer  mind  did  not  gratefully  accept  the 
measure  of  intellectual  power  which  a  re 
version  to  the  aphoristic  critical  standard  of 
John  P.  Robinson  would  have  imposed. 
Possessing  a  singularly  well-grounded  ac 
quaintance  with  the  Castilian  tongue  and 
literature,  he  looked  wistfully  forward  to 
revisiting  the  Spain  of  his  youth,  the  land 


James  TCussell  OLoweil  13 

where  the  traditions  of  Fernando  and  Isabel 
still  lingered,  to  associating  in  the  flesh  with 
modern  Santa  Teresas,  Luis  de  Leons,  Cal- 
derons,  and  Quevedos  on  a  footing  of  close 
intimacy,  and  to  collecting  the  matter  for 
some  great  literary  work.  The  Spain  of 
to-day,  unstable,  frivolous,  and  wholly  re 
miniscent,  without  the  will  or  the  physi 
cal  power  to  revert  to  dimly  remembered 
heights  of  greatness,  was  to  be  to  him  a 
sore  disillusionment. 

His  reception  was  as  congenial  to  his 
simple  nature  as  it  was  flattering  to  his 
vanity  as  a  writer.  His  induction  to  court 
life  was  not  among  the  stately  surroundings 
of  the  Palacio  Real,  but  at  the  summer  seat 
of  San  Ildefonso,  the  famed  Granja.  The 
monarch  he  met  was  a  laughing  boy,  full  of 
easy-going  camaraderie,  happy  in  the  double 
flush  of  royal  honours  and  of  love's  young 
witchery.  His  first  court  meal  was  an  un 
conventional  family  dinner  where  the  prattle 
of  Alfonso  and  his  cousin  Mercedes  over- 


14 


1Tmpres0ions  ot  Spain 


bore  mere  statecraft  and  political  science. 

tton 

His  first  intimate  associate  was  Manuel  Sil- 
vela,  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  an 
accomplished  man  of  letters,  more  prone  to 
discuss  a  play  of  Lope's  than  a  commercial 
treaty,  through  whom  he  gained  instant  en 
trance  into  the  charmed  circle  of  the  literati, 
and  set  up  his  court  among  them  as  an 
acknowledged  leader.  The  friendship  of 
Lowell  for  Silvela  lasted  throughout  his 
mission.  He  was  fortunate,  too,  in  win 
ning  the  close  friendship  of  that  keen- 
sighted  statesman,  Canovas,  not  only  by 
far  the  ablest  of  Spain's  nineteenth-century 
leaders,  but  one  of  the  foremost  premiers  of 
Europe,  of  whose  political  "omnipotence" 
he  quaintly  writes. 

No  great  historical  event  marked  the 
career  of  Spain  during  Lowell's  stay.  He 
witnessed,  on  January  23,  1878,  the  love- 
match  of  the  boy-king  with  his  girl-cousin 
Mercedes,  a  natural  sequel  to  the  love-mak 
ing  of  the  Granja  family  dinner  of  the  pre- 


5ames  IRusseli  Xowell 


ceding  August.  Five  months  later  he,  a 
sincere  mourner  among  mourners,  attended 
the  funeral  pageant  of  the  young  queen, 
who  in  her  brief  but  sunny  throne-life  had 
by  her  sweetness  and  tact  overcome  the 
resentful  distrust  with  which  the  people  at 
first  received  the  daughter  of  the  disliked 
Montpensier,  and  won  the  love  of  a  gen 
erous  nation.1  On  November  29,  1879, 
he  saw  the  union  of  Alfonso  with  that 
true-hearted  and  devoted  wife  and  mother, 
the  Archduchess  Maria  Christina  of  Aus 
tria,  who,  later,  in  1886,  after  the  young 
king's  death,  was  to  ascend  the  throne 
as  dowager  queen  regent  during  the  min 
ority  of  the  posthumous  heir,  Alfonso  XIII., 
the  present  King  of  Spain.  Between- 
whiles  Lowell  joined  in  the  ceremonial 
congratulations  to  His  Majesty  upon  his 
unharmed  escape  from  the  bullets  of  the 


1  For  an  account  of  the  attractive  personality  of  young 
Mercedes,  see  the  reminiscences  by  Henrietta  C.  Dana 
entitled  "  A  Queen  at  School,"  in  The  Century  for 
April,  1878. 


IntroZmc- 
tfon 


i6 


Umpressfons  of  Spain 


llntrotmcs 

tion 


anarchists  Moncasi  and  Otero.  He  duly 
advised  the  Department  of  State  of  all  these 
happenings,  investing  each  with  the  charm 
of  his  exquisite  style.  At  times,  lacking 
weightier  matters  of  discourse,  he  did  not 
disdain  to  rehearse  gravely  some  passing 
tattle  or  whispered  scandal  of  the  court,  or 
to  relate  some  humorous  incident,  better 
fitted  for  the  editorial  fourth  column  of  a 
metropolitan  daily  than  for  the  shelves  of  a 
staid  foreign  office.  His  habit  of  making 
his  departmental  reports  delightful  reading 
is  seen  in  the  despatches  reproduced  in  the 
following  pages.  Even  the  repulsive  dry- 
ness  of  a  negotiation  for  commercial  reci 
procity  did  not  daunt  him ;  he  found  in  the 
Spanish  presentation  of  the  case  the  text  for 
a  homily  on  Castilian  sensitiveness.  All  this 
shows  how  great  a  loser  the  world  has  been 
by  Lowell's  failure  to  make  an  ever-living 
book  about  Spain.  Like  many  men  to 
whom  composition  is  a  pastime  and  a  de 
light,  the  Hamlet-like  habit  of  putting  off 


James  IRusseil 


sober  tasks  to  a  more  convenient  season 
was  uppermost,  and,  in  his  half-indolent, 
half-satiated  enjoyment  of  what  each  day 
brought  to  him,  he  unconsciously  adopted 
as  his  motto  the  Spanish  saw  he  often 
quoted,  Manana  es  otro  dia  ("  There  is  an 
other  day  to-morrow  ").  His  private  letters 
to  his  intimates,  some  phrased  in  choice 
Castilian,  had  in  them  the  meat  and  marrow 
of  a  dozen  books. 

Lowell  wrote  little  of  the  domestic  politics 
of  Spain,  perhaps  appreciating  the  difficulty 
of  making  clear  to  an  alien  mind  that  which 
is  and  ever  must  be  incomprehensible  to 
the  Castilians  themselves,  and  none  the 
less  so  to  the  alien  observer.  He  hints  as 
much  in  the  exordium  of  the  long  despatch 
which  follows.  Necessarily  lacking  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  springs  of  national 
impulse  deep  down  in  the  heart  of  the 
masses,  he  dealt  with  the  surface  indica 
tions,  and  analysed  the  character  and  mo 
tives  of  the  men  on  top,  whose  peculiarities 


ITntrobucz 
ttou 


i8 


flmpressfons  of  Spain 


flntrobuca 
tion 


most  caught  his  attention.  He  gave  away 
no  state  secrets,  for  he  had  none  to  give. 
His  kindly  nature  forbade  any  wounding 
comment  or  trenchant  imputations, — for 
which  unhappily  there  is  as  much  room  in 
Spain  as  in  any  other  land  whose  latter-day 
history  is  made  up  of  political  drifts  and 
eddies, — but  with  epigrammatic  facility  he 
has  hit  off  personal  traits  and  suggested 
personal  motives,  always  speaking  ex  ca 
thedra  with  the  same  lofty  impartiality  as 
though  dissecting  the  bygone  rivalries  and 
intrigues  of  Athens  or  Rome.  One  can 
hardly  fail  to  see  that  criticism  like  this  is 
of  all  time  ;  that  the  puppets  and  the  scene 
may  change,  while  the  action  goes  on ;  that, 
after  all,  the  story  and  the  moral  are  merely 
those  of  the  world-old  struggle  between 
the  ins  and  the  outs ;  and  that  the  winning 
by  partisans  of  their  master's  good  grace 
is,  to  quote  Lowell's  words,  but  the  indiffer 
ent  shifting  of  a  cloud  of  gnats  "from  the 
head  of  one  passer-by  to  that  of  another. " 


James  IRusseil  3Lowell  19 


Analysis  like  this  throws  no  light  on  the  untro&uc. 
great  problems  of  racial  destiny.  It  cannot 
compute  the  cyclic  movements  of  peoples. 
But  it  is  charming  reading  all  the  same,  as 
much  so  as  a  study  from  the  essayist's  Win 
dow  at  Cambridge. 

A.  A.  ADEE. 


I 

THE  DOMESTIC  POLITICS  OF  SPAIN 


23 


i 


THE  DOMESTIC  POLITICS  OF  SPAIN 

26  August,  1878. 

HAVE  always  been  chary  of  despatches       Domestic 
concerning   the    domestic    politics    of 


Spain,  because  my  experience  has  taught 
me  that  political  prophets  who  make  even 
an  occasional  hit,  and  that  in  their  own 
country,  where  they  are  presumed  to  know 
the  character  of  the  people  and  the  motives 
likely  to  influence  them,  are  as  rare  as  great 
discoverers  in  science.  Such  a  conjunction 
of  habitual  observation  with  the  faculty  of 
instantaneous  logic  that  suddenly  precipi 
tates  the  long  accumulations  of  experience, 
whose  angles  may  be  measured  and  their 
classification  settled,  can  hardly  be  expected 


flmpressions  of  Spain 


©utettc 
influences 


of  an  observer  in  a  foreign  country.  Its 
history  is  no  longer  an  altogether  safe 
guide,  for,  with  the  modern  facility  of  inter 
communication,  influences  from  without 
continue  to  grow  more  and  more  directly 
operative  ;  and  yet  wherever,  as  in  Spain, 
the  people  is  almost  wholly  dumb,  there  is 
no  means  of  judging  how  great  the  infiltra 
tion  of  new  ideas  may  have  been.  Where 
there  is  no  well-defined  national  conscious 
ness  with  recognised  organs  of  expression, 
there  can  be  no  public  opinion,  and  there 
fore  no  way  of  divining  what  its  attitude  is 
likely  to  be  under  any  given  circumstances. 
Spaniards  especially  have  been  so  hab 
ituated  to  sudden  changes  and  to  revolu 
tions  that  began  in  a  corner  that  they  are 
apt  to  reckon  confidently  on  the  probability 
of  one.  In  what  I  shall  say  I  shall  not  re 
peat  what  Spaniards  have  said  to  me,  but 
shall  give  my  own  conclusions  from  a 
study  of  the  press,  and  from  what  I  have 
been  able  to  gather  from  the  impressions  of 


James  IRusseii  ^Lowell 


intelligent  foreigners  who  have  been  travel 
ling  in  Spain,  with  favourable  opportunities 
of  learning  what  the  state  of  feeling  really 
is,  at  least  in  the  large  cities. 

There  are  many  parties,  with  more  or 
less  distinctly  outlined  principles  or  opin 
ions  ;  but  the  will,  the  ideas,  the  aspirations, 
I  might  almost  say  the  very  life,  of  all  these 
is,  I  think,  more  completely  in  Spain  than 
in  most  other  countries,  personified  in  cer 
tain  leaders  with  whom  selfish  ambitions 
are  apt,  sooner  or  later,  to  take  the  place 
of  principle,  and  whose  partisans  uncon 
sciously  substitute  them  for  the  interests  of 
the  country.  It  is  almost  always  the  prob 
able  action  or  inaction  of  certain  leaders 
that  the  newspapers  discuss,  though  there 
is  no  lack  of  ability  for  the  treatment  of 
more  comprehensive  questions.  The  con 
centration  of  all  national  life  in  the  capital 
tends  to  intensify  the  personal  rivalries, 
jealousies,  and  animosities  of  these  leaders  > 
by  the  immediate  contact  of  competitors, 


K  Multi 
plicity  of 
Xea&era 


26 


flmpressfons  of  Spain 


'  J&mpleoa 
mania  " 


and  by  the  sight  of  men  in  power  who 
perhaps  started  from  a  lower  level  than 
themselves.  If  we  add  to  this  an  unmis 
takable  tinge  of  Orientalism,  and  a  very  large 
infusion  in  the  upper  and  middle  classes  of 
the  most  intense,  restless,  aspiring,  and  un 
scrupulous  blood  of  all,  the  Jewish,  perhaps 
we  should  rather  wonder  at  the  moderation 
than  the  passion  of  Spanish  politics.  It 
should  be  remembered  also  that  the  Spanish 
people  (the  elections  being  a  sham)  have 
no  regulated  and  constitutional  method  of 
expressing  their  will,  and  that  repression 
has  its  natural  result  of  intensifying  the  de 
sires  it  thwarts,  and  not  only  of  justifying 
the  means  by  the  end,  but  of  gradually  sub 
stituting  the  one  for  the  other. 

The  empleomania,  which  is  the  dry-rot 
of  Spain,  as  it  threatens  to  become  of  the 
United  States,  supplies  every  leader  with  a 
momentarily  devoted  band  of  adherents, 
ready  to  transfer  themselves  at  any  moment 
to  a  more  promising  chief,  as  a  cloud  of 


James  IRussell  Xowell 


gnats  shifts  indifferently  from  the  head  of  ubree 
one  passer-by  to  that  of  another.  There 
are  always  at  least  three  pretenders  to  the 
seat  of  power — the  ousted  line  of  the  royal 
family,  the  Conservatives,  and  the  radical 
Republicans.  Don  Carlos  is  for  the  present 
out  of  the  question,  because  he  is  out  of 
funds,  and  the  Republicans  have  no  osten 
sible  strength  in  the  C6rtes,  so  that  the 
former  cannot  brew  a  civil  war,  nor  the  latter 
aspire  to  defeat,  and  so  to  change,  the 
ministry  by  those  parliamentary  methods 
which  are  assumed  to  be  in  practice,  and 
all  the  motions  of  which  are  performed 
with  the  gravity  of  Roman  augurs.  The 
parties  which  make  any  show  in  the  Cortes 
are  the  Moderados  (Tories),  Moderados- 
Historicos  (High  Tories  and  Ultramon- 
tanes),  and  the  Constitucionalistas,  who 
demand  the  adoption  of  the  more  liberal 
constitution  of  1869.  These  are  all  royalists 
of  different  shades,  or  profess  to  be  so, 
though  the  last-named  have  decided  repub- 


28 


flmpressions  of  Spain 


•no 

Opposition 


lican  leanings,  and  could  easily  reconcile 
themselves  with  a  republic  which  should 
put  them  in  power. 

The  government  of  Senor  Canovas,  of 
course,  permits  and  even  favours  the  elec 
tion  as  deputies  of  a  few  opponents  who 
are  harmless,  like  Senor  Castelar;  but  real 
opposition  in  the  C6rtes  there  is  none.  By 
real  opposition  I  mean  one  based  on  prin 
ciple  and  with  any  chance  of  carrying 
through  a  single  measure  of  its  own,  or 
defeating  one  of  the  government.  This 
seems  to  be  one  of  the  chief  dangers  of 
Senor  Canovas's  position,  and  that  in  two 
ways  :  first,  by  begetting  that  blind  trust 
in  absolute  power  which  in  the  possessor 
of  it  insensibly  substitutes  will  for  reason ; 
and,  second,  because  legitimate  discontent 
that  is  not  supplied  with  safe  vents  will  be 
sure  to  make  or  seek  dangerous  outlets. 

The  fact  that  all  parties  of  the  nominal 
opposition  are  announcing  their  intention, 
with  more  or  less  emphasis,  to  practise  what 


James  IRussell  %owell  29 

is  decorously  called  "a.  policy  of  absten- 

Crfnovas 

tion     at  the  approaching  elections,  shows 

that  for  the  moment,  at  least,  the  actual        Ca0tui° 

government  has  the  game  in  its  own  hands. 

The  question  for  a  looker-on  is   merely 

whether  the  wisest  advantage  is  taken  of 

the  powerful  hand. 

So  far  as  I  can  judge  with  my  present 
means,  Senor  Canovas  del  Castillo  seems  to 
me  at  present  not  only  the  ablest  politician 
in  Spain,  but  in  many  important  respects 
capable  also  of  being  her  most  far-seeing 
statesman.  He  has  the  great  advantage 
(especially  rare  here)  of  being  familiar  with 
history  and  with  the  great  principles  which 
underlie  it.  He  is  by  far  the  strongest 
parliamentary  debater  in  the  C6rtes,  the 
only  one  who  goes  straight  to  the  question 
and  never  wanders  from  it.  Senor  Castelar 
is  no  doubt  more  eloquent;  but  his  speeches 
always,  in  my  judgment,  obscure  his  subject 
with  a  rainbow-tinted  mist,  through  which 
the  most  familiar  objects  look  strangely 


3° 


flmpressions  of  Spain 


Scftoc 

Ganova0'0 

•CClcak 

point 


unreal.  His  principles  of  action  (I  might 
almost  call  them  principles  of  diction)  have 
always,  like  the  goddess  of  Homer,  a  con 
venient  cloud  into  which  they  withdraw  at 
need  from  mortal  apprehension.  But  if  the 
use  of  speech  be  to  move  men  rather  than 
to  persuade  them,  he  is,  I  am  ready  to  be 
lieve,  the  greatest  of  contemporary  orators, 
and  comparable  with  the  greatest  of  any 
period,  especially  with  Lamartine  in  1848. 
He  says  many  sensible,  many  wise  things, 
but  they  seem  with  him  rather  acquired 
than  intuitive. 

The  weak  point,  then,  in  Senor  Canovas's 
position  is  his  omnipotence,  for  this,  with 
out  omniscience  to  steady  it,  is  almost  sure 
to  become  headstrong  and  contemptuous  of 
conciliation.  He  has,  and  justly,  a  very 
high  conception  of  his  own  ability,  and  of 
his  services  to  the  country;  but  I  think  I 
have  seen  symptoms  of  the  degeneration 
of  this  sense  of  his  own  value  into  a  belief 
that  he  is  indispensable.  This  is  sometimes 


James  IRussell  Xoweii 


the  most  fatal  dementia  of  those  whom 

~  actfonarv 

Deus  -vult  perdere.  ^ 

I  am  speaking  of  a  country,  it  should  be 
remembered,  which  has  adopted  constitu 
tional  forms,  but  has  never  acquired  the 
habitude  of  constitutional  procedure  when 
shorter  methods  seem  for  the  moment  more 
effective  or  convenient.  The  policy  of 
Senor  Canovas  is,  on  the  whole  (under  the 
convenient  euphemism  of  liberal-conserva 
tive),  a  reactionary  one,  and  seems  in  dan 
ger  of  becoming  more  so.  This  may  be 
the  result  of  a  real  conviction  in  his  own 
mind  resulting  from  the  errors  and  excesses 
of  the  short-lived  republic;  or  he  may  be 
acting  on  the  belief  that  such  a  conviction 
is  strong  enough  and  general  enough  in  the 
public  mind  to  form  the  secure  basis  of  a 
policy;  or  it  may  have  had  its  origin  in  a 
miscalculation  of  the  strength  of  the  reac 
tionary  movement  in  France.  In  either  case 
it  is  mistaking  the  eddy  for  the  current. 
Either  of  these  may  be  supposed  to  be  the 


Impressions  of  Spain 


Hn 

B&mfnfes 
tration  in 
tbe  lUr 


motive  of  Senor  Canovas,  the  politician. 
But  I  think  that  we  may  both  charitably 
and  probably  assume  a  different  one  for 
Senor  Canovas,  the  statesman.  I  will  sup 
pose  that  he  reasons  thus :  "  The  great  need 
of  the  country  is  repose  and  a  stable  ad 
ministration.  These  are  the  preliminary 
conditions  of  reform,  a  reform  of  which  I 
see  the  need  and  wish  the  success  as  much 
as  any  man.  The  problem,  therefore,  is  to 
establish  a  government  liberal  enough  in 
form  to  keep  the  Republicans  from  rising, 
and  repressive  enough  in  fact  to  keep  the 
Tories  from  plotting." 

The  objection  to  a  policy  which  for  the 
moment  may  neutralise  both  parties,  but 
satisfies  neither,  is  that,  in  military  phrase, 
the  administration  which  pursues  it  is  in 
the  air.  It  has  no  solid  base  and  no  re 
serves  of  strength.  During  his  three  years 
of  power  Senor  Canovas  has  failed  to  form 
a  party.  He  has  been  governing  by  a 
league  of  incongruous  factions  which  con- 


James  TRussell  %owell 


33 


sented  to  unite  upon  him  as  the  readiest 
temporary  expedient,  and  will  drop  away 
from  him  the  moment  the  leaders  think 
they  see  a  chance  of  realising  their  own 
special  political  opinions,  or  of  getting  into 
power  without  him.  His  cabinet  is  incon 
gruous  (as  a  cabinet  of  compromise  cannot 
fail  to  be),  and  therefore  weak,  while  all  its 
mistakes  are  sure  to  be  laid  at  the  door  of 
its  chief. 

The  dynasty,  I  hear  from  all  quarters,  and 
not  from  Spaniards  alone,  does  not  strike 
root.  Discontent,  mainly  due  to  economic 
derangements,  resulting  sometimes  from 
general  causes,  sometimes  also,  it  is  true, 
from  unwise,  unequal,  or  too  often  corrupt 
administration,  is  universal.  Taxation  is  so 
excessive  that  in  many  provinces  hundreds 
(the  newspapers  say  thousands)  of  farms 
are  abandoned  to  the  tax-gatherer.  The 
Biscayan  provinces  are  full  of  resentment 
at  the  abolition  of  their  ancient  privileges, 
and  against  Senor  Canovas  as  the  author  of 


Causes  of 
SUscontent 


34 


Umpresstons  of  Spain 


Ube  OAte 
Me  Classes 
tRepublican 


it.  I  need  not  say  that  in  Spain,  more  than 
anywhere  else,  discontent  is  likely  to  take  a 
political  turn,  which  means,  for  the  most 
part,  a  violent  one.  When  the  feeling  is 
general,  even  though  without  definite  ob 
ject,  it  begets  pronunciamentos  by  offering 
them  the  chances  of  success.  Though,  as  I 
have  said,  the  instincts  (or  perhaps  I  should 
say  the  habits)  of  absolutism  are  still  pre 
dominant,  yet  the  last  forty  years  have  made 
a  great  change  in  the  Spanish  people.  The 
middle  classes  have  become  intelligent,  rich, 
and  conscious  of  their  value  and  of  the 
power  which  results  from  it.  They  would 
be  content,  or  at  any  rate,  quiet,  under  a 
constitutional  monarchy,  where  the  elec 
tions,  the  press,  education,  and  religious 
belief  were  free  ;  but  they  are  republicans 
in  theory  and  in  their  habits  of  life. 

In  considering  the  chances  of  a  change 
of  ministries,  another  element  is  to  be  taken 
into  consideration,  and  that  is  the  personal 
preferences  of  the  King.  Senor  Canovas 


James  IRussell  Xowell 


35 


has  been  governing,  it  is  true,  by  what 
seem  to  be  parliamentary  methods,  and  has 
the  support  of  an  apparent  parliamentary 
majority.  But  the  whole  arrangement  is 
artificial,  and  the  majority  represents  no 
definite  opinions  either  in  the  C6rtes  or  the 
country,  unless  we  understand  by  a  definite 
opinion  the  determination  to  have  no  opin 
ions  at  all.  The  supporters  of  Senor  Cano- 
vas  look  on  him  as  a  plank  in  shipwreck  to 
which  they  are  content  to  cling  for  the 
present,  but  every  one  of  them  with  the 
hope  or  intention  of  making  a  bridge  of  it, 
one  of  these  days.  Intrigues  are  going  on 
continually,  and  as  the  King,  of  course,  has 
the  right  of  dismissing  and  summoning 
ministers,  these  intrigues,  as  always  hith 
erto  in  Spain,  centre  around  the  palace. 
It  is  true  that  theoretically  the  calling  of 
new  counsellors  should  follow  a  parliament 
ary  defeat  of  the  old;  but  as  the  majority 
in  the  C6rtes  is  purely  factitious,  it  can 
never  play  the  part  of  a  reality,  and  accord- 


Bnmt» 

mospbece 
of  Intrigue 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


Ube  ldng'0 
Education 


ingly  it  is  very  natural  for  one  who  is  out 
and  wishes  to  be  in  to  argue,  and  not  very 
hard  to  persuade  himself,  that  the  sic  volo, 
sic  jubeo,  of  the  King  is  at  least  as  good  as 
that  of  Senor  Canovas. 

The  King  is  intelligent  and  well-meaning, 
but  can  hardly  be  expected  at  his  age  to 
take  a  very  comprehensive  view  of  politics. 
Ministerial  writers  are  fond  of  pointing  to 
the  advantage  he  has  had  in  an  education  of 
exile.  But  such  an  education  has  also  its 
very  great  disadvantages.  While  it  may 
enable  him  to  know  more  of  the  world 
(though  this  is  doubtful  in  the  case  of  a 
prince),  it  has  prevented  his  becoming  ac 
quainted  with  his  own  country.  It  has 
put  him  under  personal  obligations  (such 
as  no  ruler  should  permit)  to  those  who 
were  faithful  to  him  in  evil  days.  It  may 
have  habituated  him  to  intrigue,  with  all 
its  dangerous  and  debasing  consequences. 
His  country  may  have  come  to  seem  a 
stake  to  be  played  for,  rather  than  the 


James  IRussell  Xowell 


37 


noblest   and   most    exacting    of  responsi 
bilities. 

The  newspapers  have  been  discussing 
nearly  all  summer  the  possibilities  and 
probabilities  of  a  change,  and  what  is  called 
the  solution  Posada  Herrera ;  that  is,  the 
formation  of  a  new  cabinet,  with  that  gen 
tleman  as  its  head,  has  been  constantly 
cropping  out,  and  in  various  quarters.  I 
confess  that  I  attached  no  great  importance 
to  it  until  the  Epoca,  a  conservative  paper 
hitherto  Canovist  through  thick  and  thin, 
took  it  up  a  few  days  ago,  and  published  in 
the  form  of  a  correspondent's  letter  the 
report  of  a  conversation  with  Senor  Posada 
Herrera,  in  which,  while  expressing  the 
greatest  deference  for  Senor  Canovas  del 
Castillo,  he  pointed  out  what  he  thought 
his  mistakes  of  policy ;  thereby,  of  course, 
sketching  by  implication  the  course  which 
a  cabinet  of  his  own  selection  would  be 
likely  to  pursue.  It  is  now  whispered  that 
the  whole  affair  is  an  intrigue  of  the  Duke 


H  possible 
Solution 


flmpressfons  of  Spain 


General 
Serrano'e 

Bttitu&e 


of  Sexto,  governor  of  Don  Alfonso  when  a 
boy,  and  now  his  mayordomo  mayor,  an 
office  which  brings  him  into  continual  and 
intimate  contact  with  the  King.  .  . 

A  far  more  important  piece  of  news  just 
beginning  to  be  whispered,  and  to  which  I 
give  more  credit,  is  the  reported  going  over 
of  General  Serrano  (the  Duke  of  La  Torre) 
to  the  Republicans,  under  some  arrange 
ment  with  Sagasta,  leader  of  the  Constitu 
tionalists.  Serrano  is  said  to  retain  his 
influence  and  popularity  with  the  army  ; 
he  has  been  regent;  is  a  man  who  reminds 
one  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  but  with  more 
good  sense  and  more  sympathy  with  mod 
ern  ideas.  Meanwhile,  as  some  confirma 
tion  of  the  Serrano-Sagasta  rumour,  Senor 
Castelar,  who  had  given  rise  to  very  fierce 
newspaper  polemics  in  the  democratic  press 
by  a  privately  circulated  letter  of  which  I 
have  a  copy,  is  inculcating  reconciliation 
and  union  through  his  special  organ,  El 
Globo. 


James  IRussell  SLowell  39 

Senor  Canovas  is  fertile  in  resources,  and        H  ffift  of 

.,, 
it  remains  to  be  seen  what  his  course  will 

be,  and  how  much  strength  the  status  quo 
still  has  in  the  country  through  the  fear  of 
possible  disorder.  My  own  conclusion  is 
that,  sooner  or  later  (perhaps  sooner  rather 
than  later),  the  final  solution  will  be  a  con 
servative  republic  like  that  of  France.  Should 
the  experiment  there  go  on  prosperously  a 
few  years  longer,  should  the  French  Senate 
become  sincerely  republican  at  the  coming 
elections,  the  effect  here  could  not  fail  to  be 
very  great,  perhaps  decisive.  In  one  re 
spect  the  Spanish  people  are  better  prepared 
for  a  republic  than  might  at  first  sight  be 
supposed.  I  mean  that  republican  habits 
in  their  intercourse  with  "each  other  are  and 
have  long  been  universal.  Every  Spaniard 
is  a  caballero,  and  every  Spaniard  can  rise 
from  the  ranks  to  position  and  power. 
This  also  is  in  part,  perhaps,  an  inheritance 
from  the  Mohammedan  occupation  of  Spain. 
Del  rey  ninguno  abajo  is  an  ancient  Spanish 


Umpresstons  of  Spain 


Censorship 
of  tbc 


proverb  implying  the  equality  of  all  below 
the  king.  Manners,  as  in  France,  are  dem 
ocratic,  and  the  ancient  nobility  here  as  a 
class  are  even  more  shadowy  than  the 
dwellers  in  the  Faubourg  St. -Germain. 

In  attacking  Senor  Canovas,  the  opposi 
tion  papers  dwell  upon  the  censorship  of 
the  press,  upon  the  reestablishment  of  mon- 
archism  under  other  names,  and  upon  the 
onerous  restrictions  under  which  the  free 
expression  of  thought  is  impossible.  The 
ministerial  organs  reply  to  the  first  charge 
that  more  journals  were  undergoing  sus 
pension  at  one  time  during  the  Liberal  ad 
ministration  of  Senor  Sagasta  than  now  ; 
and  this  is  true.  The  fact  is  that  no  party, 
and  no  party  leader,  in  Spain  is  capable  of 
being  penetrated  with  the  truth — perhaps 
the  greatest  discovery  of  modern  times — 
that  freedom  is  good,  above  all,  because  it 
is  safe.  Senor  Canovas  is  doing  only  what 
any  other  Spaniard  would  do  in  his  place; 
that  is,  endeavouring  to  suppress  opinions 


3ames  "Russell  3Lowell 


which  he  believes  to  be  mischievous.  But  ube  fir* 
of  the  impolitic  extreme  to  which  the  prin 
ciple  is  carried  under  his  administration, 
though,  I  suspect,  without  his  previous 
consent,  the  following  fact  may  serve  as  an 
example : 

Senor  Manuel  Merelo,  professor  in  the 
Institute  del  Cardenal  Cisneros,  published, 
in  1869,  a  compendium  of  Spanish  history 
for  the  use  of  schools.  In  speaking  of  the 
revolution  of  1868,  he  wrote:  "It  is  said 
that  the  light  conduct  [las  limandades\  of 
Queen  Isabel  II  was  one  of  the  causes  of 
this  catastrophe."  After  an  interval  of  nine 
years  he  has  been  expelled  from  his  chair, 
and  his  book  suppressed. 

If  any  change  should  take  place,  which  I 
confess  I  do  not  expect,  but  which  in  a 
country  of  personal  government  and  pro- 
nunciamentos  is  possible  to-morrow,  I  think 
the  new  administration  will  find  that,  with 
the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  a  country 
which  has  been  misgoverned  for  three  cen- 


42  Impressions  of  Spain 

»  *u>vei       turies  is  not  to  be  reformed  in  a  day.     At 

TKIlcapon 

the  same  time  I  believe  Spain  to  be  making 
rapid  advances  toward  the  conviction  that  a 
reform  is  imperative  and  can  only  be  ac 
complished  by  the  good  will  and,  above  all, 
the  good  sense  of  the  entire  nation.  There 
are  strong  prejudices  and  rooted  traditions 
to  be  overcome,  but  with  time  and  patience 
I  believe  that  Spain  will  accomplish  the  es 
tablishment  of  free  institutions  under  what 
ever  form  of  government. 

20  October,  1877. 

In  one  of  my  late  despatches  (No.  10)  I 
mentioned  my  belief  that  Spain  was  dis 
posed  to  make  a  weapon  of  her  commercial 
system.  Whatever  be  the  deliberate  views 
of  the  government,  it  is  quite  certain,  I 
think,  from  the  tone  of  the  press,  that  pub 
lic  opinion  urges  strongly  in  that  direction. 
If  Spain  were  richer  and  more  powerful— 
if  she  were  as  rich  and  powerful  as,  with  her 
resources,  she  ought  to  be, — perhaps  this 
would  not  be  so,  or  at  least  not  to  the  same 


James  IRusseli  SLowell 


43 


degree;  but,  as  it  is,  the  national  pride  is 
sensitive  in  proportion  to  the  country's  de 
cline  in  prosperity  at  home  and  consideration 
abroad,  and  pardonably  enough  seeks  in  the 
application  of  differential  duties  that  which 
is  denied  in  more  noisy  if  less  important 
fields. 

If  the  armies  and  navies  of  Spain  no 
longer  weigh  as  once  in  the  political  scales 
of  Europe,  her  custom-houses  at  least  may 
continue  to  inspire  the  foreigner  with  a 
wholesome  respect,  and  her  scale  of  duties 
may  still  put  her  on  a  level  with  her  most 
powerful  rivals  in  diplomacy  and  war. 

I  am  not  condemning  this  as  a  weakness; 
for  all  national  criticism  in  bulk  is  mislead 
ing  and  foolish,  and  I  look  upon  the  belief 
of  Spaniards  that  Spain  ought  to  be  great 
and  strong  as  the  most  promising  agency  of 
her  future  regeneration. 

This  sensitive  nerve  of  theirs  has  just 
been  jarred  by  the  announcement,  in  a  let 
ter  from  Washington,  that  "by  a  decree  of 


Ube  Uarift 
as  a  Club 


44 


Impressions  of  Spain 


cree  of 
tbe  presi 
dent  " 


the  President,  dated  September  7,  an  addi 
tional  tonnage  duty  of  fifty  cents  the  ten 
(making  eighty  cents  in  all)  has  been  laid 
on  all  Spanish  vessels  entering  American 
ports."  I  had  no  information  whatever  on 
the  subject,  nor  could  any  be  found  in  such 
files  of  American  papers  as  the  legation 
possessed.  I  knew,  of  course,  that  "a  de 
cree  of  the  President "  showed  an  ignor 
ance  of  our  Constitution  worthy  of  certain 
English  ministers  of  fifteen  years  ago,  and 
that  the  so-called  "decree"  could  be  no 
thing  more  than  the  putting  in  force  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  some  provi 
sion  in  a  previous  act  of  Congress  which 
he  was  authorised  to  do  upon  a  certain  con 
tingency.  Under  the  circumstances,  I  was 
not  sure  whether  I  ought  not  to  think  the 
whole  story  an  invention.  But  as,  whether 
true  or  not,  it  was  making  much  excitement 
here,  I  thought  best  to  inquire  by  telegraph, 
as  I  did  two  days  ago.  I  found  the  Spanish 
government  as  much  in  the  dark  as  I  was. 


3ames  IRussell  Xowell 


45 


The  opposition  press  naturally  enough 
made  the  most  of  the  affair,  and  advocated 
immediate  retaliation,  hinting  at  a  certain 
want  of  national  spirit  in  the  ministry.  The 
ministerial  papers,  no  better  informed  than 
the  rest  of  the  world  on  a  subject  about 
which  nobody  knew  anything  whatever, 
were,  of  course,  unwilling  to  be  behind 
hand  in  patriotism,  and  equally  so  to  advo 
cate  any  inconsiderate  action.  Both  parties 
are  now  agreed  in  counselling  that  an  equiv 
alent  tonnage  duty  should  be  laid  upon 
American  vessels  to  the  Peninsula  and  Ba 
learic  Islands.  The  Madrid  Society  of  Polit 
ical  Economy,  which  is  spoken  of  as  a 
body  of  much  weight,  has  also  appointed  a 
committee  to  wait  upon  the  ministry  with 
a  similar  recommendation.  Thus  all  parties 
seem  to  be  agreed  that  only  one  course  is 
consistent  with  the  dignity  and  interest  of 
Spain.  This  is  the  more  natural  as  the 
protectionist  party  is  powerful  here,  and 
the  ablest  of  the  opposition  journals,  the 


H  Uempcs  t 
inaTEeapot 


46 


flmpresstons  of  Spain 


Impartial,  is  a  fervent  believer  in  the 
virtues  of  a  high  tariff.  I  ought  to  add 
that  the  tone  of  all  the  newspapers  I  have 
seen  has  been  perfectly  dispassionate  and 
courteous. 

In  the  absence  of  any  more  exciting  po 
litical  topic,  this  piece  of  news  from  Amer 
ica  assumed  a  somewhat  disproportionate 
importance  and  gave  some  uneasiness  to 
the  ministry,  who  were  sincerely  anxious 
to  preserve  the  most  friendly  relations  with 
the  United  States.  The  minister  of  state 
at  once  made  inquiries  by  telegraph  of  the 
Spanish  representative  at  Washington.  His 
answer  was  that  such  a  tonnage  duty  had 
been  laid  on  Spanish  vessels,  and  that  he 
would  send  further  particulars  in  writing. 

Yesterday  Mr.  Silvela  called  upon  me,  and 
it  was  evident  that  the  affair  was  giving  him 
a  great  deal  of  annoyance.  He  repeated 
what  I  have  already  told  you  concerning 
the  attitude  of  the  press  and  the  current  of 
public  opinion.  He  said  that  the  ministry 


James  IRussell  SLowell  47 

were  exceedingly  reluctant  to  adopt  any 
measure  of  retaliation,  and  would  not  do  so 
unless  their  hands  were  forced  by  consider 
ations  of  policy  which  they  could  not  dis 
regard.  He  again  spoke  of  the  great  effort 
they  had  made  to  promote  friendly  feeling 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  in  the  pay 
ment  of  the  indemnity  in  cash,  when  every 
peseta — nay,  every  real — was  a  matter  of 
consequence  to  them,  and  when  they  were 
making  every  possible  exertion  and  sacrifice 
to  put  their  finances  in  a  more  tolerable 
condition,  even  to  the  extent,  he  added, 
with  a  smile,  of  laying  a  tax  of  twenty-five 
per  cent,  on  all  official  salaries.  He  wished 
me  to  observe  the  analogy  between  their 
situation  and  that  of  the  United  States 
immediately  after  the  Civil  War.  .  .  . 
He  urged  the  advantage  to  both  Spain  and 
the  United  States  of  a  treaty  of  commerce 
and  navigation,  for  which  the  occasion  was 
favourable.  .  .  . 
I  should  not  have  thought  it  worth  while 


Impressions  of  Spain 


to  write  at  so  much  length  about  this  mat- 

Sensitivee 


need 


ter,  were  it  not  that  it  occupies  public 
attention  here,  and  might,  I  think,  if  left 
unexplained,  give  a  wrong  impression  of 
the  feelings  and  intentions  of  the  President 
toward  Spain.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  in  spite  of  the  advances  made  by  Spain 
toward  an  understanding  of  true  political 
principles,  —  and  I  think  they  are  great,  —  the 
old  tradition  of  personal  government  is  still 
rooted  in  men's  habits  of  thought,  and  this 
leads  insensibly  to  an  attribution  of  mo 
tives  and  designs  which  have  often  no 
foundation  in  reason  or  reality.  At  the 
same  time,  by  crediting  the  President  with 
powers  and  functions  which  do  not  belong 
to  him,  false  expectations  are  raised  as  to 
what  he  may  do  motu  proprio,  and  the 
necessary  disappointment  of  these  produces 
that  irritation  which  is  not  possible  against 
an  abstraction.  Spain,  also,  in  the  peculiar 
difficulties  of  her  position,  is  sensitive,  and 
perhaps  suspicious,  beyond  what  would  be 


James  IRussell  SLoweil  49 

natural  under  other  circumstances.  I  can- 
not  but  believe  it  the  wish  of  the  President 
that  every  obstacle  to  a  good  understanding 
which  can  honourably  be  removed  may  be 
removed,1  and  that  every  reciprocation  of 
good  feeling  which  can  properly  be  made 
may  be  made,  as  for  the  common  interest 
of  both  countries.  In  addition  to  what 
Mr.  Silvela  asked  me  to  remember,  I  could 
not  help  recalling  that  of  the  western  Eu 
ropean  powers  certainly  none  fulfilled  her 
obligations  toward  us  during  our  Civil  War 
more  faithfully  than  Spain. 

20  May,  1879. 

I  have  the  honour  to  report  that  we  have 
a  new  minister  of  state  in  place  of  the  Mar 
quis  of  Molins,  who  resumes  his  former 
post  as  ambassador  at  Paris.  This  is  the 
Duke  of  Tetuan,  nephew  of  the  celebrated 
O'Donnell,  and  who  has  been  minister  at 
Lisbon  and  Vienna. 

I  think  there  is  every  reason  to  be  satis- 

1  The  duty  was  removed  by  President  Hayes. 


Impressions  of  Spain 


Bn 
Bmfable 

flDinteter 


fied  with  the  change.  The  duke  is  a  very 
amiable  man,  with  excellent  intentions, 
who  told  me  at  our  first  official  reception 
that  he  "should  try  to  be  a  continuation  of 
Mr.  Silvela."  Nothing  would  be  more 
satisfactory  to  the  whole  diplomatic  body 
here  than  this. 

I  feel  quite  sure  that  my  official  relations 
with  the  new  minister  will  be  agreeable, 
and  that  he  will  do  for  us  whatever  a  per 
son  in  his  position  can.  I  said  to  him  that 
I  thought  the  importance  of  the  friendship 
of  the  United  States  to  Spain  was  hardly  so 
fully  understood  here  as  it  should  be.  He 
said  in  reply:  "I  think  /  appreciate  its 
value/'  adding,  with  a  smile,  "my  wife 
was  a  Cuban." 


II 

THE  KING'S   FIRST  MARRIAGE 


II 

THE  KING'S   FIRST  MARRIAGE 

13  December,  1877. 

WESTERDAY  the  diplomatic  body  re-  ube 
•*•  ceived  official  communication  of  the 
intended  marriage  of  the  King  with  his 
cousin  the  Princess  Mercedes,  daughter  of 
the  Duke  of  Montpensier.  Thus  the  famous 
Spanish  marriages  of  thirty  years  ago,  which 
helped  to  dethrone  Louis  Philippe,  have 
borne  fruit  at  last,  and  one  of  his  grand 
children  will  share,  though  she  cannot  oc 
cupy,  the  throne  of  Spain.  The  result  is 
not  precisely  what  was  intended,  but  comes 
nearer  to  being  so  than  mortal  plans  or 
prophecies  commonly  do.  The  King  is 
very  intelligent  and  performs  all  his  cere- 


53 


54  flmpresstons  of  Spain 

H  love  monial  functions  with  grace.  The  Princess 
is  good  looking,  of  suitable  age,  and  has 
been  well  and  sensibly  brought  up.  The 
match  is  said,  by  those  best  entitled  to 
know,  to  be  one  of  affection  on  both  sides, 
and  so  seldom  does  love  contrive  to  win 
his  way  into  a  palace  under  any  disguise, 
that  I  am  quite  ready  to  believe  he  has 
managed  it  at  last.  Malice,  no  doubt, 
would  contrive  to  find  ground  in  this  case 
also  for  some  suspicion  of  a  dynastic  ar-» 
rangement,  based  on  the  hope  of  an  Orlean- 
ist  restoration  in  France  by  the  management 
of  the  Duke  of  Broglie.  It  is  so  hard,  how 
ever,  to  make  out  the  truth  of  history,  even 
after  it  has  been  written  with  seeming 
clearness  in  events,  that  it  is  hardly  worth 
while  attempting  to  divine  the  precise  bear 
ing  and  significance  of  such  parts  of  it  as 
do  not  contrive  to  get  written  at  all.  If 
any  such  hope  conduced  to  the  present 
matrimonial  arrangement,  it  has  been  ap 
parently  baffled  by  the  admirable  self-re- 


James  TRusseii  %owell 


55 


straint  of  the  French  people.  It  would 
certainly  have  been  a  very  natural  and  even 
praiseworthy  hope,  if  ever  entertained, 
from  a  Spanish  point  of  view,  but  that  it 
had  any  influence  at  all  in  the  affair  is  no 
thing  more  than  a  surmise  that  has  some 
times  suggested  itself  to  my  mind  during  the 
last  few  months.  At  any  rate  it  is  a  truce, 
not  a  peace,  that  has  been  arrived  at  in 
France,  and  that  as  the  result  rather  of  a 
drawn  battle  than  of  a  victory. 

The  royal  wedding  is  to  take  place  on 
the  23d  of  next  month,  with  as  much  as 
possible  of  traditional  Spanish  ceremony 
and  modes  of  public  rejoicing.  Meanwhile, 
as  a  natural  preliminary,  the  price  of  every 
thing  has  doubled  in  Madrid,  and  the  city 
is  reckoning,  in  what  is  generally  called  by 
Europeans  a  very  American  spirit,  on  the 
profit  to  be  made  out  of  the  strangers  who 
will  be  tempted  into  its  net. 

Before  this  reaches  you,  you  will  doubt 
less  have  received  an  official  communi 


Bmerfcan 
Spirit 


flmpressions  of  Spain 


Congratua 

latimi  tbe 

UUng. 


cation    through  the   Spanish   Minister  at 
Washington. 

3  February,  1878. 

Immediately  on  receiving  the  President's 
telegram  congratulating  the  King  upon  his 
approaching  marriage,  I  communicated  the 
substance  of  it  to  the  Minister  of  State  and 
asked  for  an  audience  that  1  might  present 
it  in  person  to  His  Majesty.  On  Monday 
(the  2 1  st  ultimo)  accordingly  I  was  received 
by  King  Alfonso  in  private  audience  and 
delivered  my  message,  at  the  same  time 
adding  that  it  gave  me  particular  pleasure  to 
be  the  bearer  of  it.  The  King  in  reply 
desired  me  to  convey  to  the  President  his 
great  pleasure  in  receiving  this  expression 
of  sympathy  from  the  Chief  Magistrate  of 
a  people  with  which  he  wished  always  to 
maintain  and  draw  closer  the  most  friendly 
relations.  A  very  gracefully  turned  com 
pliment  to  the  messenger  followed. 

The  King,  I  may  add,  performs  all  these 
ceremonial  parts  of  his  function  with  a 


3ame0  TCusseii  3Lowell  57 

grace,  tact  and  good  humour  which  have 
struck  me  as  indicating  a  singularly  agile 
intelligence  as  well  as  an  amiable  character. 

I  think  that  this  act  of  courtesy  on  the 
part  of  the  President  has  really  given  pleas 
ure  here,  and  has  not  been  entirely  lost  in 
the  throng  of  special  ambassadors  who 
have  been  despatched  hither  with  numer 
ous  suites  to  pay  the  royal  compliments  of 
the  occasion. 

As  these  special  ambassadors  had  been 
received  in  public  audience,  I  had  some 
doubt  whether  I  ought  to  consent,  as  being 
in  this  case  the  immediate  representative 
of  the  President,  to  be  received  privately. 
But  the  time  was  too  short  for  much  con 
sideration.  The  audience  was  to  be  at 
half-past  one  o'clock,  and  I  received  notice 
of  it  only  the  night  before.  Had  it  been  a 
letter  of  the  President,  I  should  have  in 
sisted  on  its  being  received  publicly.  As  it 
was,  I  thought  it  most  prudent  and  grace 
ful  to  admit  the  distinction  between  Ex- 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


Ube  Slovv= 
Going 

Despatcba 
JBao 


traordinary  Ambassadors  sent  with  great 
pomp  to  bring  gifts  and  decorations,  and  a 
mere  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  especially  as 
it  would  have  otherwise  been  impossible 
to  deliver  the  message  at  all  before  the 
wedding. 

The  difficulty  was  heightened  by  my 
having  only  just  risen  from  a  very  severe 
attack  of  illness,  which  made  it  necessary 
for  me  to  economise  my  strength  in  order 
to  take  any  part  at  all  in  the  ceremonies. 

6  February,  1878. 

In  these  days  of  newspaper  enterprise, 
when  everything  that  happens,  ought  to 
happen,  or  might  have  happened,  is  re 
ported  by  telegraph  to  all  quarters  of  the 
world,  the  slow-going  "despatch  bag  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  bring  anything  very 
fresh  or  interesting  in  regard  to  a  public 
ceremonial  which,  though  intended  for  po 
litical  effect,  had  little  political  significance. 
The  next-morning  frames  of  fireworks  are 


James  TRusseil  %owell 


59 


not  inspiring  except  to  the  moralist,  and  Ma- 
drid  is  already  quarrelling  over  the  cost  and 
mismanagement  of  a  show  for  the  tickets  to 
which  it  was  quarrelling  a  week  ago.  Yet 
a  few  words  will  not  be  out  of  place  upon 
a  royal  holiday  which  but  yesterday  divided 
the  attention  of  the  world  with  the  awful 
historical  tragedy  of  the  East  and  the  mo 
mentous  social  problems  which  are  looming 
in  the  West.  Nowhere  in  the  world  could  a 
spectacle  have  been  presented  which  recalled 
so  various,  so  far-reaching  and  in  some 
respects  so  sublime  associations,  yet  rend 
ered  depressing  by  a  sense  of  anachronism, 
of  decay,  and  of  that  unreality  which  is  all 
the  sadder  for  being  gorgeous.  The  Ro 
man  amphitheatre  (panem  et  cir censes), 
the  united  escutcheons  from  whose  quar 
tering  dates  the  downfall  of  Saracenic  civil 
ization  and  dominion  in  Spain  ;  the  banners 
of  Lepanto  and  of  the  Inquisition  fading 
together  into  senile  oblivion  on  the  walls 
of  the  Atocha  ;  the  names  and  titles  that 


6o 


•ffmpresstons  of  Spain 


HSJaj.Uing 
picture 


recalled  the  conquest  of  western  empires 
or  the  long  defeat  whose  heroism  established 
the  independence  of  the  United  Provinces 
and  proved  that  a  confederacy  of  traders 
could  be  heroic  ;  the  stage-coaches,  plumed 
horses,  blazing  liveries  and  running  foot 
men  of  Louis  Quatorze  ;  the  partisans  of 
Philip  III.'s  body-guard,  the  three-cornered 
hats,  white  breeches  and  long  black  gaiters 
of  a  century  ago,  mingled  pellmell  with  the 
French  shakos  and  red  trousers  of  to-day  ; 
the  gay  or  sombre  costumes  from  every 
province  of  Spain,  some  recalling  the  Moor 
and  some  the  motley  mercenaries  of  Lope 
de  Figueroa  ;  the  dense  and  mostly  silent 
throng  which  lined  for  miles  the  avenue  to 
the  church,  crowding  the  windows  with 
white  mantillas,  fringing  the  eaves  and 
ridgepoles,  and  clustered  like  swarming 
bees  on  every  kind  of  open  ground  ;  all 
these  certainly  touched  the  imagination, 
but,  in  my  case,  at  least,  with  a  chill  as  of 
the  dead  man's  hand  that  played  so  large 


James  IRusseli  OLowell  61 

a  part  in  earlier  incantations  to  recall  the 
buried  or  delay  the  inevitable.  There  was 
everything  to  remind  one  of  the  past  ;  there 
was  nothing  to  suggest  the  future. 

And  yet  I  am  unjust.  There  were  the 
young  King  and  his  bride  radiant  with 
spirit  and  hope,  rehearsing  the  idyl  which 
is  charming  alike  to  youth  and  age,  and 
giving  pledges,  as  I  hope  and  believe,  of 
more  peaceful  and  prosperous  years  to 
come  for  a  country  which  has  had  too  much 
glory  and  too  little  good  housekeeping. 
No  one  familiar  with  Spanish  history,  or 
who  has  even  that  superficial  knowledge 
of  her  national  character  which  is  all  that 
a  foreigner  is  capable  of  acquiring,  can  ex 
pect  any  sudden  or  immediate  regeneration. 
The  bent  of  ages  is  not  to  be  straightened 
in  a  day  by  never  so  many  liberal  constitu 
tions,  nor  by  the  pedantic  application  of 
theories  drawn  from  foreign  experience, 
the  result  of  a  wholly  different  past. 

If  the  ninety  years  since  the  French  Revo- 


62 


"(Impressions  of  Spain 


ADore  tban 

a  flBcre 
Sbow 


lution  have  taught  anything,  it  is  that  insti 
tutions  grow,  and  cannot  be  made  to  order, 
— that  they  grow  out  of  an  actual  past,  and 
are  not  to  be  conspired  out  of  a  conjectural 
future, — that  human  nature  is  stronger  than 
any  invention  of  man.  How  much  of  this 
lesson  has  been  learned  in  Spain,  it  is  hard 
to  say  ;  but  if  the  young  King  apply  his 
really  acute  intelligence,  as  those  who  know 
him  best  believe  he  will,  to  the  conscientious 
exercise  of  constitutional  powers  and  the 
steady  development  of  parliamentary  meth 
ods,  till  party  leaders  learn  that  an  ounce  of 
patience  is  worth  a  pound  of  passion,  Spain 
may  at  length  count  on  that  duration  of 
tranquility  the  want  of  which  has  been  the 
chief  obstacle  to  her  material  development. 
Looked  at  in  this  light,  the  pomps  of  the 
wedding  festival  on  the  2}d  of  last  month 
may  be  something  more  than  a  mere  show. 
Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  here  it  is 
not  the  idea  of  Law  but  of  Power  that  is 
rooted  in  the  consciousness  of  the  people, 


James  IRussell  3Loweli  63 

and    that   ceremonial   is   the   garment  of 

.,       ..  Catolico" 

Authority. 

Madrid,  as  you  know,  being  an  impro 
vised  capital,  is  not  the  see  of  a  bishop, 
and  accordingly  has  no  cathedral.  The 
Atocha  is  a  small  church,  and  the  ceremony 
there  was  necessarily  private,  thus  lacking 
fl|kpopular  affluente  and  the  perspective 
which  a  building  of  ample  proportions 
would  have  given  to  it.  But  the  splendour 
of  the  costumes,  especially  those  of  the 
higher  clergy  and  the  heralds  at  arms,  which 
are  the  same  now  as  five  hundred  years 
ago,  gave  one  the  feeling  that  he  saw  the 
original  scene  of  some  illuminated  page  in 
Froissart.  I  was  struck  by  the  great  num 
ber  of  times  that  the  phrase  rey  catolico  de 
Espana  was  repeated  during  the  wedding 
service,  and  with  the  emphasis  which  the 
officiating  prelate,  the  Archbishop  of  To 
ledo,  seemed  to  lay  upon  the  adjective,  the 
legal  title  of  Alfonso  XII.  being  rey  consti 
tutional.  I  was  struck  also  with  the  look 


64 


Impressions  of  Spain 


of  genuine  happiness  in  the  faces  of  the 
royal  bride  and  bridegroom,  which  strongly 
confirmed  the  opinion  of  those  who  believe 
that  the  match  is  one  of  love  and  not  of 
convenience. 

The  ceremony  over,  the  King  and  Queen 
preceded  by  the  Cabinet  Ministers,  the 
special  ambassadors,  and  the  grandees  of 
Spain,  and  followed  by  other  personages, 
all  in  coaches  of  state,  drove  at  a  footpace  to 
the  Palace,  where  Their  Majesties  received 
the  congratulations  of  the  Court,  and  after 
wards  passed  in  review  the  garrison  of 
Madrid.  By  invitation  of  the  President  of 
the  Council,  the  Foreign  Legations  wit 
nessed  the  royal  procession  from  the  bal 
conies  of  the  Presidency.  It  was  a  very 
picturesque  spectacle,  and  yet  so  comically 
like  a  scene  from  Cinderella  as  to  have  a 
strong  flavour  of  unreality.  It  was  the  past 
coming  back  again,  and  thus  typified  one 
of  the  chronic  maladies  of  Spain.  There 
was  no  enthusiasm,  nothing  more  than  the 


James  IRusseil  SLowell  65 

curiosity   of   idleness  which  would  have 

Deferred 

drawn  as  great  a  crowd  to  gape  at  the 
entry  of  a  Japanese  ambassador.  I  heard 
none  of  the  shouts  of  which  I  read  in  some 
of  the  newspapers  the  next  day.  No  in 
ference,  however,  should  be  drawn  from 
this  as  to  the  popularity  or  unpopularity  of 
the  King.  The  people  of  the  capital  have 
been  promised  the  millenium  too  often, 
and  have  been  too  constantly  disappointed 
to  indulge  in  many  illusions.  Spain,  iso 
lated  as  in  many  respects  she  is,  cannot 
help  suffering  in  sympathy  with  the  com 
mercial  depression  of  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  Spaniards,  like  the  rest  of  mankind, 
look  to  a  change  of  ministry  for  a  change 
in  the  nature  of  things.  The  internal  poli 
cies  of  the  country  (even  if  I  could  hope  to 
understand  them,  as  I  am  studying  to  do) 
do  not  come  directly  within  my  province  ; 
but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  Spain  is  lucky  in 
having  her  ablest  recent  statesman  at  the 
head  of  affairs,  though  at  the  cost  of  many 


66 


ITmpressfons  of  Spain 


other  private  ambitions.     That  he  has  to 

(public 


tReceptfon 


steer  according  to  the  prevailing  set  of  the 
wind  is  perhaps  rather  the  necessity  of  his 
position  than  the  fault  of  his  inclination. 
Whoever  has  seen  the  breasts  of  the  peas 
antry  fringed  with  charms  older  than  Car 
thage  and  relics  as  old  as  Rome,  and  those 
of  the  upper  classes  plastered  with  decora 
tions,  will  not  expect  Spain  to  become  con 
scious  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  ready 
to  welcome  it,  in  a  day. 

On  Thursday  there  was  a  grand  public 
reception  at  the  Palace,  at  which  five  thou 
sand  persons  are  said  to  have  filed  before 
Their  Majesties  in  witness  of  their  loyalty. 
All  palaces  since  the  grand  sttcle  have  been 
more  or  less  tawdry,  but  that  of  Madrid 
has  a  certain  massive  dignity,  and  the 
throne-room  especially  has  space  and  height 
enough  to  give  proper  effect  to  ceremonies 
of  this  kind.  The  young  Queen  wore  her 
crown  for  the  first  time,  and  performed 
her  new  functions  with  the  grace  of  entire 


James  IRusseil  OLowell 


self-possession.  The  ceremony,  naturally 
somewhat  tedious  in  itself,  acquired  more 
interest  from  the  fact  that  the  presence  or 
absence  of  certain  personages  was  an  event 
of  more  or  less  political  importance. 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  dinner  to  the 
special  ambassadors  and  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  followed  by  a  very  crowded  recep 
tion  at  the  Palace  of  the  Presidency,  at 
which  all  of  Madrid  that  has  a  name  seemed 
to  be  present.  The  fine  apartments  were 
crowded  until  half-past  two  in  the  morning. 
The  street  on  which  the  Palace  stands  (the 
Alcala)  was  so  crammed  for  its  whole  length 
with  people,  that  the  carriages  of  Ministers 
on  their  way  to  the  dinner  were  unable  to 
pass.  The  mob  (and  a  Madrid  mob  is  no 
joke)  became  so  threatening  that  foreign 
representatives  were  forced  to  renounce 
their  privilege  of  free  passage  and  to  reach 
their  dinners  in  a  more  roundabout  and  di 
plomatic  fashion.  It  is  to  the  credit  of 
their  professional  ability  that  all  arrived  in 


SJrftfng 
tbrougb 

tbc  flDob 


68 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


tor. 

lowell'0 
Jffrgt 


season.  I  have  seen  nothing  so  characteris 
tic  since  my  arrival  as  the  wild  faces,  threat 
ening  gestures  and  frightful  imprecations  of 
this  jam  of  human  beings,  which,  reason 
ably  enough,  refused  to  be  driven  over. 

On  Friday  took  place  the  first  bull-fight, 
at  which  every  inhabitant  of  Madrid  and 
all  foreigners  commorant  therein  deemed  it 
their  natural  right  to  be  present.  The  latter, 
indeed,  asserted  that  the  teleological  reason 
for  the  existence  of  legations  was  to  sup 
ply  their  countrymen  with  tickets  to  this 
particular  spectacle  for  nothing.  Though 
I  do  not  share  in  the  belief  that  the  sole  use 
of  a  foreign  minister  is  to  save  the  cost  of 
a  valet  de  place  to  people  who  can  perfectly 
well  afford  to  pay  for  one,  I  did  all  I  could 
to  have  my  countrymen  fare  as  well  as 
the  rest  of  the  world.  And  so  they  did,  if 
they  were  willing  to  buy  the  tickets  which 
were  for  sale  at  every  corner.  The  distri 
bution  of  them  had  been  performed  on 
some  principle  unheard  of  out  of  Spain  and 


James  IRussell  3Lowell  69 

apparently  not  understood  even  there,  so        »utteteb 
that  everybody  was  dissatisfied,  most  of  all 
those  who  got  them. 

The  day  was  as  disagreeable  as  the  Prince 
of  the  Powers  of  the  Air  could  make  it, 
even  with  special  reference  to  a  festival. 
A  furious  and  bitterly  cold  wind  discharged 
volleys  of  coarse  dust,  which  stung  like 
sleet,  in  every  direction  at  once,  and  seemed 
always  to  threaten  rain  or  snow,  but  unable 
to  make  up  its  mind  as  to  which  would  be 
most  unpleasant,  decided  on  neither.  Yet 
the  broad  avenue  to  the  amphitheatre  was 
continually  blocked  by  the  swarm  of  vehi 
cles  of  every  shape,  size,  colour,  and  dis 
comfort  that  the  nightmare  of  a  bankrupt 
livery  stabler  could  have  invented.  All  the 
hospitals  and  prisons  for  decayed  or  con 
demned  carriages  seemed  to  have  discharged 
their  inmates  for  the  day,  and  all  found 
willing  victims.  And  yet  all  Madrid  seemed 
flocking  toward  the  common  magnet  on 
foot  also. 


70  Ifmpressfons  of  Spain 

I  attended  officially,  as  a  matter  of  duty, 

SJbocfcfng 

spectacle  and  escaped  early.  It  was  my  first  bull 
fight  and  will  be  my  last.  To  me  it  was  a 
shocking  and  brutalising  spectacle  in  which 
all  my  sympathies  were  on  the  side  of  the 
bull.  As  I  came  out  I  was  nearly  ridden 
down  by  a  mounted  guard,  owing  to  my 
want  of  any  official  badge.  For  the  mo 
ment  I  almost  wished  myself  the  representa 
tive  of  Liberia.  Since  this  dreadful  day  the 
16,000  spectators  who  were  so  happy  as  to 
be  present  have  done  nothing  but  blow 
their  noses  and  cough. 

By  far  the  prettiest  and  most  interesting 
feature  of  the  week  was  the  dancing,  in  the 
plaqa,  de  armas  before  the  Palace,  of  depu 
tations  from  all  the  provinces  of. Spain,  in 
their  picturesque  costumes.  The  dances 
were  rather  curious  than  graceful,  and  it 
was  odd  that  the  only  one  which  we  are 
accustomed  to  consider  preeminently  Span 
ish,  the  cachucha,  was  performed  by  two 
professional  dancers.  The  rest  had,  how- 


James  IRusseii  2LoweIl  71 

ever,  a  higher  interest  from  their  manifest        Dancing 
antiquity  and  almost  rudimentary  characters.  ' 

When  the  dances  were  over,  the  deputa 
tions  were  ranged  in  file,  and  passed  in 
review  by  the  King  and  his  guests.  One 
was  struck  by  the  general  want  of  beauty, 
whether  of  face  or  form,  in  both  sexes, 
and  by  the  lowness  of  stature.  But  there 
was  great  vigour  of  body  and  the  hard  feat 
ures  had  an  expression  of  shrewdness  and 
honesty.  By  far  the  prettiest  among  the 
women  were  those  from  Andalusia. 

The  same  evening  (Sunday)  the  King 
entertained  the  special  ambassadors  and 
diplomatic  body  at  dinner,  and  this  was 
followed  by  a  reception.  A  dinner  where 
one  is  planted  between  two  entire  strangers, 
and  expected  to  be  entertaining  in  an  alien 
tongue,  will,  one  may  hope,  be  reckoned 
to  our  credit  in  another  world.  The  recep 
tion  had  one  striking  and  novel  feature, 
and  this  was  the  marching  past  of  the 
Madrid  garrison  with  colored  lanterns  and 


Umpressfons  of  Spain 


End  of  tbe 

festivities 


torches.  It  was  a  spectacle  of  vivid  pic- 
turesqueness. 

Besides  these  hospitalities  there  were  two 
performances  at  the  opera,  which  I  did  not 
attend.  During  the  whole  week  the  city 
was  gay  with  coloured  hangings  by  day, 
and  bright  with  illuminations  (some  of 
them  very  pretty)  by  night. 

At  last  the  natural  order  of  things  began 
again.  As  on  all  such  occasions  there  had 
been  long  and  constantly  heightening  ex 
pectation,  short  fruition,  and  general  relief 
when  all  was  over.  Everybody  grumbled, 
everybody  could  have  managed  things  bet 
ter;  and  yet  on  the  whole,  I  think,  every 
thing  went  off  almost  better  than  could 
have  been  expected. 


HI 

THE  DEATH  OF  QLJEEN  MERCEDES 


75 


HI 

THE  DEATH  OF  QIJEEN  MERCEDES 

3  July,  1878. 

A  T  my  first  interview  with  Mr.  Silvela 
**  after  my  return  from  my  furlough, 
he  told  me  that  the  Queen  was  ill.  Driving 
too  late,  he  said,  by  the  side  of  the  lake  in 
the  Casa  del  Campo,  she  had  taken  cold; 
some  symptoms  of  fever  had  shown  them 
selves;  there  were  fears  lest  these  should 
assume  a  typhoidal  character;  the  symp 
toms  were  complicated  and  the  diagnosis 
made  less  easy  by  her  being  with  child  ;  as 
she  had  already  miscarried  once,  the  doctors 
might  order  her  to  keep  her  bed  or  a  re- 
clining-chair  for  months  to  come  ;  naturally 
there  was  some  anxiety,  but  her  youth  and 


76 


Umpressfcms  ot  Spain 


H  Change 
foctbe 
TOorsc 


strong  constitution  were  greatly  in  her  fa 
vour.  Mr.  Silvela  spoke  with  a  great  deal 
of  feeling,  but  certainly  did  not  give  me 
the  impression  that  the  case  was  so  very 
serious,  much  less  that  it  was  hopeless.  It 
seemed  rather  to  be  only  a  question  whether 
the  Queen  would  be  able  to  hold  the  recep 
tion  which  had  been  announced  for  her 
birthday  (the  24th). 

This  was  on  the  I9th  of  June.  Two 
days  afterward  I  read  in  the  morning  paper 
that  the  case  was  putting  on  a  grave  look, 
and  that  the  physicians  hitherto  in  attend 
ance  (all  of  them  accoucheurs)  began  to 
fear  that  the  real  disease  was  gastric  fever, 
all  the  more  to  be  dreaded  in  the  Queen's 
case,  as  one  of  her  sisters  had  died  of  it, 
and  one  of  her  brothers,  after  lingering  a 
year,  of  the  weakness  consequent  upon  an 
attack  of  it.  I  at  once  went  over  to  the 
Palace  to  make  inquiries  and  to  inscribe  my 
name  in  the  book  placed  for  the  purpose  in 
the  Mayordomia  Mayor.  I  did  not  see  Mr. 


James  IRusseil  Xowell 


77 


Silvela,  but  Senor  Ferraz,  the  under  secre 
tary,  told  me  that  the  Queen's  condition 
was  alarming. 

Next  day  the  crowd  of  inquirers  (a  crowd 
embracing  all  classes)  became  so  great  that 
a  separate  register  for  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
was  placed  in  the  department  of  state,  and 
regular  bulletins  began  to  be  issued  three 
times  a  day. 

Up  to  this  time  the  situation  of  the 
Queen  could  not  have  been  considered  as 
one  of  eminent  danger,  for  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Montpensier  had  not  been  sum 
moned,  and  the  patient  was  still  attended 
only  by  the  physicians  already  mentioned. 
The  first  consultation  at  which  eminent 
practitioners  from  outside  the  Palace  at 
tended,  took  place  on  the  24th.  Meanwhile, 
the  wildest  and,  I  may  say,  most  atrocious 
rumours  were  current  among  the  vulgar, 
so  atrocious,  indeed,  that  I  will  not  shock 
you  with  a  repetition  of  them. 

From  this  time  forward  I  went  several 


•(Rumors 
Current 


Impressions  of  Spain 


Ubefilueen 
passes 


times  every  day  to  ask  for  news  at  the  Pal 
ace.  Even  so  late  as  Tuesday  the  25th  the 
case  was  not  thought  desperate.  On  that 
day  I  was  assured  that  it  was  the  opinion 
of  the  physicians  that  if  the  internal  hemor 
rhage  (which  had  been  one  of  the  worst 
features  of  the  case)  did  not  recur  during 
the  night,  recovery  was  certain.  It  did  not 
recur,  but  nevertheless  the  weakness  of 
the  sufferer  became  so  excessive  that  ex 
treme  unction  was  administered  early  on 
the  morning  of  Wednesday.  After  this 
there  was  a  slight  rally,  followed  by  a  rapid 
loss  of  strength  and  consciousness,  ending 
in  death  at  a  quarter  past  twelve. 

During  the  last  few  days  of  the  Queen's 
illness,  the  aspect  of  the  city  had  been 
strikingly  impressive.  It  was,  I  think,  sens 
ibly  less  noisy  than  usual,  as  if  it  were  all 
a  chamber  of  death,  in  which  the  voice 
must  be  bated.  Groups  gathered  and  talked 
in  undertone.  About  the  Palace  there  was 
a  silent  crowd  day  and  night,  and  there 


5ames  IRusseli  SLoweli 


79 


could  be  no  question  that  the  sorrow  was 
universal  and  profound.  On  the  last  day  I 
was  at  the  Palace  just  when  the  poor  girl 
was  dying.  As  I  crossed  the  great  interior 
courtyard,  which  was  perfectly  empty,  I 
was  startled  by  a  dull  roar  not  unlike  that 
of  the  vehicles  in  a  great  city.  It  was 
reverberated  and  multiplied  by  the  huge 
cavern  of  the  Palace  court.  At  first  I  could 
see  nothing  that  accounted  for  it,  but  pres 
ently  found  that  the  arched  corridors  all 
around  the  square  were  filled,  both  on  the 
ground  floor  and  the  first  storey,  with  an 
anxious  crowd,  whose  eager  questions  and 
answers,  though  subdued  to  the  utmost, 
produced  the  strange  thunder  I  had  heard. 
It  almost  seemed  for  a  moment  as  if  the 
Palace  itself  had  became  vocal. 

At  the  time  of  the  royal  marriage  I  told 
you  that  the  crowd  in  the  streets  was  indif 
ferent  and  silent.  My  own  impression  was 
confirmed  by  that  of  others.  The  match 
was  certainly  not  popular,  nor  did  the  bride 


BUbunter 

Of1bU6bC& 

Voices 


8o 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


sorrow  call  forth  any  marks  of  public  sympathy. 
The  position  of  the  young  Queen  was  dif 
ficult  and  delicate,  demanding  more  than 
common  tact  and  discretion  to  make  it  even 
tenable,  much  more,  influential.  On  the 
day  of  her  death  the  difference  was  im 
mense.  Sorrow  and  sympathy  were  in 
every  heart  and  on  every  face.  By  her 
good  temper,  good  sense,  and  womanly 
virtues,  the  girl  of  seventeen  had  not  only 
endeared  herself  to  those  immediately  about 
her,  but  had  become  an  important  factor  in 
the  destiny  of  Spain.  I  know  very  well 
what  divinity  doth  hedge  royal  personages, 
and  how  truly  legendary  they  become  even 
during  their  lives,  but  it  is  no  exaggeration 
to  say  that  she  had  made  herself  an  element 
of  the  public  welfare,  and  that  her  death  is 
a  national  calamity.  Had  she  lived  she 
would  have  given  stability  to  the  throne  of 
her  husband,  over  whom  her  influence  was 
wholly  for  good.  She  was  not  beautiful, 
but  the  cordial  simplicity  of  her  manner, 


James  IRusseli  SLowell 


81 


the  grace  of  her  bearing,  her  fine  eyes,  and 
the  youth  and  purity  of  her  face  gave  her 
a  charm  that  mere  beauty  never  attains. 

Seldom  has  an  event  combined  more 
impressive  circumstances.  Youth,  station, 
love,  happiness,  promise,  every  element  of 
hope  and  confidence,  were  present  to  give 
pathos  to  the  sudden  catastrophe.  It  seemed 
but  yesterday  that  she  had  passed  through 
the  city  in  bridal  triumph.  On  that  day, 
as  in  most  Spanish  ceremonies  of  the  kind, 
an  empty  carriage,  called  a  coche  de  respeto, 
was  one  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the  pro 
cession.  On  the  day  of  the  funeral  the 
coche  de  respeto  was  the  huge  vehicle  (pro 
phetically,  as  it  should  almost  seem,  named 
de  ambos  mundos),  drawn  by  eight  white 
horses,  in  which  we  had  seen  her  pass  a 
happy  bride.  Surely  the  two  worlds  were 
never  more  impressively  brought  face  to 
face. 

Grief  and  sympathy  were  universal,  and 
with  these  a  not  unnatural  anxiety  about 


Blpatbetfc 

Cavaas 
tropbe 


flmpressions  of  Spain 


IRfng's 
flDanlfncss 


the  future.  The  young  King  has  borne 
himself  with  great  manliness  and  self-re 
straint,  though  his  face  shows  deep  marks 
of  the  trial  he  has  endured  and  has  still  to 
endure.  The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Mont- 
pensier  receive  less  sympathy,  for,  as  gen 
erally  on  such  occasions,  there  are  not 
wanting  those  who  see  in  the  Queen's 
death  a  bl^w  of  retributive  justice  for  the 
royal  marriages  of  1846,  forgetting  into 
how  many  obscure  households  Death  may 
have  entered  on  the  same  day  and  left  be 
hind  him  the  same  desolation. 

One  cannot  help  recalling  the  familiar 
stanza  of  Malherbe  : 

"  Le  pauvre  en  sa  cabane  qui  de  chaume  se  couvre 

Est  sujet  a  ses  lois, 

Et  la  garde  qui  veille  aux  barrieres  du  Louvre 
N'en  defend  point  nosrois." 

The  moment  I  heard  of  the  Queen's  death 
I  sent  a  note  to  Mr.  Silvela,  of  which  a 
copy  is  annexed.  I  also,  on  receiving  the 
President's  despatch,  instantly  inclosed  to 


James  IRussell  OLoweil 


him  a  copy  of  it.  I  was  very  glad  that  the 
President  thought  proper  to  send  it,  for  it 
could  not  fail  to  be  grateful,  as,  indeed,  I 
am  sure  it  has  been. 

To-day  at  noon  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
were  received  in  audiences  of  condolence 
(painfully  trying  on  both  sides)  by  the  King, 
the  Princess  of  Asturias,  and  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Montpensier,  with  their  surviv 
ing  unmarried  daughter.  The  King  leaves 
to-morrow  morning  for  the  Escorial,  where 
it  is  said  he  will  spend  a  month. 

On  the  iyth  of  this  month  a  solemn  mass 
for  the  repose  of  the  late  Queen's  soul  will 
be  celebrated  at  the  expense  and  under  the 
direction  of  the  Government.  The  other 
foreign  ministers  here  have  written  to  their 
respective  governments,  asking  to  be  dep 
uted  as  special  envoys  for  that  occasion. 
I  shall  accordingly  send  you  a  telegram 
asking  whether,  in  case  they  should  be  so 
deputed,  I  should  assume  the  same  func 
tion  myself. 


Hudiencee 

of  Consols 

ence 


IV 


ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  THE 

KING 


IV 

ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  THE 
KING 

October  29,  1878. 

THE  telegraph  will  have  long  ago  in- 
(or 
formed  you  of  the  attempt  made  last 

Friday  (25th)  upon  the  life  of  the  King. 
As  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  at  once 
sent  off  telegrams  to  all  Spanish  ministers 
abroad,  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  send 
a  cable  dispatch. 

The  King  was  making  his  entry  into 
Madrid  on  his  return  from  a  tour  of  several 
weeks  in  the  northern  provinces,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  had  directed  the  autumn 
manoeuvres  of  the  troops  at  Vitoria.  It  was 
his  first  public  appearance  in  Madrid  since 
the  death  of  his  Queen  on  the  26th  of  June, 


•(Impressions  of  Spain 


saence  and  it  was  no  doubt  hoped,  if  not  expected, 
crow&  *kat  ^e  st^  surviving  sympathy  with  that 
great  calamity  would  communicate  some  of 
its  warmth  to  the  crowd  which  lined  the 
streets  through  which  he  passed.  In  spite 
of  the  officially  reported  enthusiasm,  the 
young  monarch's  reception  in  the  north  had 
been  more  than  cool.  His  tour,  so  far  as 
concerns  any  political  effect,  had  been  so 
complete  a  failure  that  the  original  route 
sketched  out  for  him  had  been  changed, 
and  he  forbore  to  visit  certain  towns  rather 
than  run  the  risk  of  hostile  demonstrations 
more  emphatic  than  silence.  Perhaps  Ma 
drid  would  be  less  indifferent.  Friday  was 
a  chilly  and  lowering  day,  but  the  profound 
silence  of  the  throng  which  had  gathered 
to  see  the  pageant  go  by  added  a  chill  to 
that  of  the  weather.  The  official  cheers 
from  the  Government  buildings  but  empha 
sised  the  general  silence. 

The  King  was  passing  along  the  Calle 
Mayor,    and  drawing  near  to  the  Palace. 


James  IRussell  SLowell 


89 


Hitherto  he  had  gone  at  a  foot-pace,  but 
now,  as  he  said  afterwards,  "he  began  to 
be  impatient  to  get  home,"  and  spurred  his 
horse  to  a  trot.  Just  as  he  did  so,  a  shot 
was  heard.  The  King,  who  showed  great 
coolness,  reined  up,  and  faced  in  the  direc 
tion  from  which  it  came.  The  would-be 
assassin,  who  had  moved  a  few  paces  from 
where  he  had  been  standing,  and  had  put 
on  the  air  of  an  interested  spectator,  was 
pointed  out  by  some  women  who  had  seen 
him  fire,  and  at  once  arrested.  No  pistol 
was  found  upon  him  (though  there  were 
caps  and  cartridges  in  his  pocket),  nor  has 
any  since  been  traced.  He  is  said  to  have 
fired  twice,  but  only  one  ball  has  been  found, 
and  this  had  apparently  rebounded  after 
striking  the  house  opposite.  At  first  it  was 
reported  that  a  soldier  had  been  slightly 
wounded  ;  then  that  the  ball  had  passed 
through  the  sleeve  of  his  coat,  and  now 
even  this  seems  doubtful. 
The  criminal  is  a  young  man  named 


Ubc 

Criminal 
Captured 


9° 


Impressions  of  Spain 


iPar&on 
•ffmposa 

sible 


Oliva,  a  Catalonian,  and  by  trade  a  cooper. 
He  belongs  to  a  respectable  family  in  easy 
circumstances,  who  found  it  impossible  to 
restrain  his  irregular  tendencies,  and  to  give 
him  a  career  more  suitable  to  their  own 
condition  in  life.  He  at  once  avowed  his 
crime,  and  with  melodramatic  dignity  an 
nounced  himself  a  socialist  and  member  of 
the  International.  He  denied  having  ac 
complices,  though  the  disappearance  of  his 
pistol  seems  to  imply  it.  It  is  a  curious 
illustration  of  the  artificial  state  of  politics 
here,  that,  although  the  King  would  natur 
ally  be  glad  to  pardon  the  criminal,  it  is  said 
that  he  will  be  unable  to  do  so  lest  the 
whole  affair  should  seem  a  tragic  comedy 
arranged  beforehand  between  the  ministry 
and  the  actors  as  a  test  of  popular  sentiment. 
On  Saturday,  the  26th,  the  King  received 
the  felicitations  of  the  diplomatic  body. 
Among  other  things  he  said  to  me,  "I  al 
most  wish  he  had  hit  me,  I  am  so  tired." 
Indeed,  his  position  is  a  trying  one,  and  I 


•James  IRusseli  Xowell  91 

feel  sure  that  if  he  were  allowed  more 
freely  to  follow  his  own  impulses  and  to 
break  through  the  hedge  of  etiquette  which 
the  conservative  wing  of  the  restoration 
have  planted  between  him  and  his  people, 
his  natural  qualities  of  character  and  tem 
perament  would  make  him  popular. 

On  the  same  afternoon  (Saturday)  the 
King  drove  out  with  his  sister  the  Princess 
of  Asturias,  himself  holding  the  reins,  and 
without  guards.  He  was  well  received  by 
the  people,  though  the  effect  was  dampened 
by  the  factitious  enthusiasm  of  some  sol 
diers,  who,  it  is  said,  had  been  blunderingly 
detailed  for  the  purpose  by  the  captain- 
general  of  the  province. 

The  only  possible  effect,  or  perhaps  I  . 
should  say  consequence,  of  the  event  of 
Friday,  would  be  to  make  the  policy  of 
the  present  ministry  more  reactionary  and 
repressive.  Already  the  Politico,,  the  or 
gan,  as  it  is  called,  of  Senor  Canovas,  is 
urging  such  a  course,  and  declaring  that  the 


flmpressfons  of  Spain 


Scwar&'s 
Uelegram 


act  of  Moncasi  *  is  but  a  symptom  of  the 
general  feeling  of  Catalonia,  with  which 
province  severe  measures  should  be  taken. 
But  the  majority  even  of  the  ministerial 
press  is  more  sensible  and  not  yet  ready  to 
identify  political  opposition  either  with 
regicide  or  rebellion. 

Mr.  Seward's  telegram  directing  me  to 
convey  to  His  Majesty  the  congratulations 
of  the  President  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  on  his  providential  escape 
was  received  on  Sunday  morning.  I  at 
once  communicated  it  to  the  Minister  of 
State  in  the  note  of  which  a  copy  is  inclosed, 
and  on  the  following  day  received  Mr. 
Silvela's  reply,  a  copy  and  translation  of 
which  are  also  hereto  annexed. 


1  The  would-be  assassin's  name  was  Juan  Oliva  y 
Moncasi. 


V 

GENERAL  GRANT'S  VISIT  TO  SPAIN 


95 


GENERAL  GRANT'S  VISIT  TO  SPAIN 

October  29,  1878. 

I  HAVE  the  honour  to  inform  you  that 
General  Grant  arrived  here  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  1 8th.  At  the  station  he  was 
received  by  the  civil  governor  of  the  pro 
vince,  by  a  general  and  two  aides-de-camp 
on  the  part  of  the  Minister  of  War,  and 
by  the  members  of  this  legation.  At  all 
the  stations  on  the  road  he  was  greeted 
by  the  local  authorities.  Though  he  ar 
rived  in  Madrid  on  the  day  he  originally 
fixed,  he  had  entered  Spain  three  days 
earlier  than  he  intended,  in  compliance  with 
an  invitation  of  the  King  (received  through 
the  Spanish  consul  at  Bordeaux)  to  be  pre 
sent  at  the  autumn  manoeuvres  near  Vitoria. 


mrrfval  of 
General 
Grant 


96 


flmpresstons  of  Spain 


lowell 
Wince 
tbe  ey. 

preeffcent 


General  Grant  while  there  was  presented 
to  the  King,  dined  with  him,  and  rode  by 
his  side  during  one  of  the  reviews.  He 
spoke  in  very  warm  terms  of  the  excellent 
quality,  appearance,  and  discipline  of  the 
Spanish  troops. 

During  his  stay  here  he  visited  the  various 
museums,  the  Escorial  and  Toledo.  To 
the  last  place  I  was  unable  to  accompany 
him  on  account  of  an  engagement  to  dine 
with  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  On 
Saturday  he  and  Mrs.  Grant  were  received 
in  private  audience  by  the  Princess  of 
Asturias.  On  Monday  evening  they  dined 
at  my  house,  meeting  the  president  of  the 
council,  the  ministers  of  foreign  affairs  and 
of  war,  the  civil  and  military  governors, 
and  the  principal  foreign  ministers.  After 
the  dinner  a  reception  took  place,  where  as 
many  persons  as  my  house  would  accom 
modate  were  presented  to  the  General  and 
Mrs.  Grant. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Canovas  del  Castillo 


James  TRussell  3Lowell 


gave  a  great  dinner  in  honour  of  General 
Grant  at  the  Palace  of  the  Presidency,  after 
which  the  chief  guests  withdrew  to  the 
opera,  where  the  ministerial  box  had  been 
put  at  their  disposal,  and  whither  Mrs. 
Grant  had  gone  earlier  in  the  evening. 

General  Grant  left  Madrid  on  Friday,  the 
25th,  at  nine  o'clock  P.M.,  for  Lisbon,  the 
Portuguese  Minister  here  having  already 
telegraphed  his  coming  in  order  that  he 
should  be  properly  received.  In  conse 
quence  of  this  latter  circumstance  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  delay  his  departure  in 
order  to  take  formal  leave  of  the  King,  as 
he  otherwise  would  gladly  have  done.  I 
made  the  proper  explanations  and  apologies 
to  His  Majesty  at  our  reception  next  day. 

Every  possible  attention  and  courtesy 
were  shown  to  General  Grant  during  his 
stay  by  the  Spanish  Government,  and  the 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  took  occasion 
to  tell  me  that  these  civilities  were  intended 
not  only  to  show  respect  and  good  will  to 


Significant 
Civilities 


98 


ITmpressions  of  Spain 


tion 


General  Grant,  but  to  the  Government  and 

Pe°PIe  of  the  United  States- 
General  Grant  several  times  expressed  to 

me  very  warmly  his  pleasure  and  satisfac 
tion  at  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been 
received  and  treated.  Both  he  and  Mrs. 
Grant  spoke  repeatedly  of  the  great  enjoy 
ment  they  had  had  in  their  visit. 

From  Portugal  General  Grant  goes  to 
Cadiz,  and  thence  to  Malaga.  From  Mal 
aga  he  will  visit  Granada,  Cordova,  and 
Seville,  going  thence  to  Gibraltar.  Mr. 
Silvela  begged  me  to  keep  him  informed  of 
the  General's  movements  in  Spain,  in  order 
that  the  necessary  orders  might  be  given 
for  his  fitting  reception  everywhere  by  the 
public  authorities. 


VI 

THE  KING'S  SECOND  MARRIAGE 


VI 


THE  KINGS  SECOND  MARRIAGE 

1 6  November,  1879. 

I  HAVE  the  honour  to  enclose  copy  and 
*  translation  of  the  official  note  commun 
icating  the  intended  marriage  of  the  King, 
and  also  a  copy  of  my  reply. 

Naturally  this  event  does  not  excite  either 
the  sympathies  or  the  animosities  awakened 
by  the  wedding  of  twenty-two  months 
ago,  and  it  occurs  at  a  time  when  the 
country  is  saddened  by  the  terrible  inunda 
tions  of  Murcia,  and  public  attention  dis 
tracted  by  the  recent  news  from  Cuba. 
The  young  Archduchess  is  said  to  possess 
qualities  likely  to  render  her  popular,  if 
only  she  is  able  to  disarm  the  criticism  to 
which  any  foreign  and  perhaps  especially 


IOI 


Aarfa 

Cbrtstlna 


THf 

[   UNfVERSJTY  ) 

OF 

ife^ 


102 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


•no 


cance 


any  Austrian  princess  will  be  exposed  in 
Spain. 

The  match  is  declared  to  have  no  politi 
cal  significance  whatever,  though  circum 
stances  may  easily  be  imagined  in  which 
the  eagerness  of  many  Spaniards  that  Spain 
should  follow  the  example  of  Italy  under 
the  leadership  of  Cavour  might  guide  it  in 
an  importance  which  it  does  not  intrinsic 
ally  possess. 

15  December,  1879. 

I  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  trouble 
you  with  any  details  of  the  royal  wedding, 
which  differed  in  no  respect  from  that  of 
two  years  ago,  fully  described  in  my  de 
spatch  at  the  time.  The  only  notable  dif 
ference  was  the  presence  of  the  Queen 
Mother,  who  naturally  absented  herself 
from  the  former  ceremony,  in  which  a 
daughter  of  the  brother-in-law  who  had 
been  the  main  instrument  of  her  dethrone 
ment  was  the  bride. 


3ames  IRussell  OLowell 


103 


It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  ex-Queen  was 
received  wherever  she  showed  herself  in  ^puiar/ 
public  with  the  most  noisy  demonstrations 
of  popularity,  in  marked  contrast  with  the 
silence  with  which  her  son  and  his  Austrian 
bride  were  received.  This  was  partly,  no 
doubt,  intended  to  heighten  the  emphasis 
of  the  public  indifference  toward  them,  but 
it  was  also  a  proof  of  her  personal  popu 
larity,  which  is  still  very  great  in  spite  of 
all  her  faults  and  follies,  and  perhaps  it 
might  be  said  in  consequence  of  them. 

I  do  not  mention  this  as  having  the  least 
political  significance,  but  only  as  a  fact 
worth  recording,  and  as  another  proof  that 
the  very  qualities  or  defects  of  character 
which  make  those  that  are  marked  by  them 
bad  rulers,  are  a  large  constituent  in  the 
affection  with  which  they  are  regarded  by 
the  unthinking.  The  father  of  Isabel  II., 
one  of  the  basest  men  and  worst  kings 
that  ever  lived,  was  always  popular,  mainly 
because  he  contrived  to  pass  off  as  careless 


io4 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


good  humour  the  cynical  want  of  feeling 
with  which  he  perpetrated  his  treacheries, 
perjuries,  and  cruelties.- 

The  new  Queen  attracts  sympathy  by 
the  gracious  cordiality  of  her  manners,  her 
youth,  and  the  dignity  of  her  bearing.  She 
is  good-looking  without  being  beautiful  ; 
she  has  the  projecting  chin  of  her  race, 
though  softened  in  her  by  feminine  delicacy 
of  feature.  One  seems  to  see  in  her  a  cer 
tain  resemblance  to  Marie  Antoinette,  and 
she  mounts  a  throne  that  certainly  seems 
less  firm  than  that  of  France  when  her  kins 
woman  arrived  in  Paris  to  share  what  all 
believed  would  be  the  prosperous  fortunes 
of  its  heir-apparent.  Such  associations  lent 
a  kind  of  pathos  to  the  unaffected  happi 
ness  which  lighted  the  face  of  Maria 
Christina. 


IOS 


INDEX 


Adee,  A.  A.,  iv,  19 

Alfonso  XII.,  v,  vi,  5,  13-15  ;  education,  36  ;  congratu 
lations  to,  56  ;  first  wedding,  58  et  seq.]  bereave 
ment,  82,  83  ;  attempted  assassination,  87  et  seq.  ; 
second  marriage,  101  et  seq. 

Alfonso  XIII.,  15 

Asturias,  Princess  of,  83,  91,  96 

Atocha,  The,  63 

Broglie,  Duke  of,  54 
Bull-fight,  68 

Campos,  Martinez  de  (Marshal),  8,  1 1 

Canovas  del  Castillo,  Antonio,  14,  28-37,  39»  9'»  9^ 

Carlos  (Don),  27 

Castelar,  Emilio,  7,  29,  38 

Censorship,  40,  41 

Century  Magazine,  15 

Gushing,  Caleb  (Minister),  4,  9,  it 

Dana,  Henrietta  C.,  15 
Dances,  national,  70 

Ellen  Ri^pah,  Rising  San,  and  Edward  Lee  (whaling 

vessels),  vi 
Empleomania,  26 


io6 


Umpressions  of  Spain 


Inter  Figueras,  Estanislao,  6 

Grant,  U.  S.,  vi,  95-98 

Hayes,  President,  44,  49,  56,  57,  82 
Herrera,  Posada,  37 

Irving,  Washington,  vii,  4,  1 1 
Isabel  II.  (ex-Queen),  5,  41,  102,  10$ 

La  Granja,  v,  13 

La  Torre,  Duke  of.    See  Serrano 

Madrid  Society  of  Political  Economy,  45 

Malherbe,  82 

Maria  Cristina  (Queen),  vii,  15,  101 

Mercedes  (Queen),  vii,  13,  15,  53,  54  ;  death,  75  etseq. 

Merelo,  Manuel,  41 

Moncasi,  Juan  Oliva  y,  16,  90,  92 

Montpensier,  Duke  of,  53  ;  and  Duchess,  77,  82,  83 

Pavia  (General),  8 
Pedregal  (President),  10 
Pi  y  Margall,  Francisco,  7 

Reed,  D wight,  vii 
Republicanism,  39 
Royalists,  27 

Salmeron,  Nicolas,  7 

Serrano,  General  (Duke  of  La  Torre),  5,  8,  38 
Seward,  William  H.,  Secretary  of  State,  92 
Sickles,  Daniel  E.  (Minister),  4,  1 1 
Silvela,  Manuel,  iv,  46,  50,  82 


James  IRussell  XoweU  107 


Spain's  friendliness  toward  United  States,  vi ;  domestic 
politics,  23  et  seq.  ;  custom-houses,  45 ;  sensitiveness, 
48 

Spanish  marriages,  53 

Tariff  as  a  weapon,  42  et  seq. 
Tetuan,  Duke  of,  49,  50 
Tonnage  duty  on  Spanish  vessels,  44 
Treaty  of  commerce  proposed,  47 

yirginius  affair,  1 1 
Zanjon,  truce  of,  11 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


SEP    2   '948 

fcjuw      ft    4-043 

IK}29^6    9RCU 

lylAi 

,  . 

tv'  i                                 r        *QO 

240*590  F 

REITD  05 

tint  JO  fjjgjf 

p*-^r  ^v 

IVW   ! 

LD  21-100m-7,'40  (6936s) 

YB  25943 


I 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


t^,  -..-r 

4 


